Womens Legal Resource

Twenty one year old Teri Moreno contacted Women’s Legal Resource a few weeks ago needing assistance on how to deal with a con man she had been dating. After talking with Teri and listening to her story, I felt compelled to write this story and to bring forth more awareness on online dating and MySpace. I directed her to file a police report and to notify the FBI as soon as possible. It sounded like this guy has done this before and probably moving on to his next victim.

MySpace has become a breeding ground for criminals who prey on young women. This type of criminal knows that young girls or women won’t question who they are or where they come from.  Social networks, like MySpace makes it easier for an individual to let their guard down. Especially for someone shy, introverted or who lack social skills.

This class of criminal is aware of how naive and vulnerable young girls are and they prey hoping they will get emotionally attached quickly, as Teri did.  They will take advantage of you,  take all your money and lead you on a roller-coaster ride to hell and confusion. I hope young people across the country read Teri’s story.

Just know this, when you choose to date online, your are placing your life at risk of rape, kidnapping and even murder.  Sure, it may be easier to let your inhibitions down while online, but it’s not the same as meeting someone in person for the first time. There is still a risk, but the stakes are higher of getting into trouble when you date online using MySpace. When you meet someone in person, your instinct comes to focus and you size the person up. On MySpace, you can’t see if someone looks you in the eye when talking with you or how their body posture is. The predator is hidden in the endless black hole of the internet and reels his prey in. Be aware of who you are talking with online, especially on MySpace and Facebook. It’s very easy for a predator to become your friend. Don’t give out private information or where you live, until you have that person checked out. If you sense there is something wrong, listen to your instinct, you are probably right.

“I met my fiancee “Greg”  on MySpace. When I met him for the first time, I thought it was love at first sight. He was an older man and he made me feel really special. We started dating and then he  moved in with me.  He didn’t work, claiming he had cancer and that prevented him from working. I was supporting him financially. Please keep in mind, I had no idea he was a con man.

Then I found out I was pregnant.  When I told him,  he was in shock. I thought nothing of it and thought it was a normal reaction. From that point on, our relationship was never the same. That should have been the first warning sign.

One day, he received news that his father was sick and he needed to go back to San Antonio. As it turned out, his father died.  During our relationship, I spent so much money on him because I genuinely believed his story that me he had cancer and couldn’t work. Now looking back, I feel pretty foolish for trusting this man. Now with his father passing away, he needed to go to the funeral. On May 28, 2009, I used what little money I had and sent him off to his fathers funeral.

On June 8th “Greg” contacted me and told me that he had seen a doctor and that his heart was failing  and would require surgery and a pace maker.  On June 12th I had a miscarriage. On June 13th,  I spoke with “Greg” and told him I lost the baby. On June 14th”Greg” called me and told me that the surgery went well, but that he wasn’t feeling too good and was quick to tell me that everything would be okay and we’ll try to have another child.

Again, please keep in mind, I had no idea that “Greg” really wasn’t sick. He was just strumming me along.

On June 19, 2009 I receive an email from his brother explaining that “Greg” died. You can’t imagine how I felt hearing that, my heart simply broke.  I loved this man and I believed his story.  Boy,  I was so wrong. I should have checked him out first. I should have questioned this man more about his family and where he came from.

I used the number “Greg”  used to call me and a man answered, I  believed it to be his brother. This man told me the funeral would be June 24th in Floresville, TX.  His brother advised me that the funeral was going to be at the Franklin funeral home at 10am so that they could bury him next to his mom and daughter.

I explained to his brother that I wasn’t sure if I could attend, I just had a miscarriage and I would call him back. Come to think about it, his brother never asked me, “are you okay?” “I am so sorry” or anything like that.

I was unemployed, having quit my job when I had the miscarriage, I had no income. I borrowed four hundred dollars from my friends and family and I called his brother to let him know I would be able to attend and to verify the address and time of the funeral.

This is when my life completely fell apart. They lead me on a wild goose chase. I went to the funeral home, no one was there. I called his brother and he said they moved it to another funeral home. Oh my God!  I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. The next day, I drove to the funeral home and left a little early just to be sure I wouldn’t miss anything. I get to the funeral home, it was empty, no cars in the parking lot, nothing.

Again, I called his brother and he said, “the funeral already started, where are you? I replied, standing outside the funeral home.” From that point on, it was one story to the next. I was completely fooled and I am running around looking for a funeral that didn’t exist. I drove home, I couldn’t believe I let this guy do this to me. Now, I had a feeling something was up, but it hurt too much to accept.

I started contacting his friends on MySpace, demanding to know what happened. Shortly after that, I get a call from his brother, he was threatening me and yelling at me to stop harassing his family. A couple of “Gregs” friends emailed me recent pictures of him and I couldn’t believe what I saw,  he didn’t look dead to me.  I was fooled and lead on a wild goose chase. Then I found out that he had been dating a women since June 26, 2009. I was told he died on June 15th.

“Greg” took my money, my self esteem and my confidence. He took my innocence from me. I will never trust another human being for a very long time. I was depressed and I really thought I did something wrong. I felt bad about myself.  I took control and researched more about the subject and I am fighting back.

Please see Teri’s interview below.

Tags: alexis a. moore, Americas Most Wanted, Channel 7 news, Cyber stalking, cybercrimes, Facebook, MySpace, Online dating, Randi Rosen, Social networking, Survivors in Action, twitter, violence against women, Womens Legal Resource

This entry was posted by womenslegal on Friday, July 17th, 2009 at 10:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.