This all started last spring, when virus fears, mounting unemployment and the loneliness of digital life combined to create a perfect environment for online romantic scams. Over two years, we grew closer and closer by email and phone, but every plan for us to meet in person always mysteriously fell through. That experience devastated me but also helped me understand all too well how these women could fall for a stranger online, and how he could use their hope against them. I told them I was sorry that someone using my photos had caused them so much pain. I risked causing them more pain by telling them they weren’t the only victims, but I figured they deserved the truth.

Source: New York Times November 13, 2020 04:52 UTC