NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – “Michelle” as we are calling her wants to protect her identity, but she says the person she was communicate with online took advantage of her kindness and robbed her of thousands of dollars.
“It’s not so much about me personally.” she says.
She wants everyone to be learn from her mistakes.
“There are women out there that have lost, enormous amounts of money,” she says. “And not just the financial loss that they’ve suffered, but also the emotional loss that they’ve suffered as well.”
In 2021, she said she was vulnerable, going through a rough patch in her life. Suffering from depression, she shut everyone out and found companionship in a person she said called himself Thomas Elton.
Thomas was persistent in pursuing she said. “I felt bad because he sent me this message that was like, I just want to talk to you.”
And so she responded back.
“They just know all the right things to say,” she said about her experience. “It’s incredible. I’ve never met anybody as charming as this false person.”
She said this person was a fake, only after her money.
And even though her gut cautioned danger, she went through with it.
She said he sent pictures of what he looked like — which later turned out to be pictures taken from the internet of a famous physician in Turkey.
Eventually, she sent the man about $5,000 in wire transfers and gift cards.
Reid Tepfer, attorney with the Federal Trade Administration in the Southwest…
