CASTLE ROCK, Colo., Nov. 9 (UPI) -- A widow in Colorado says she lost her life savings to a man she met online who claimed to be a U.S. Army general.
Esther Ortiz-Rodeghero, 55, told ABCNews.com she was vulnerable because she had recently lost her husband to pancreatic cancer. She encountered "Maj. Gen. Wayne Jackson" last year on an online dating site, seniorpeoplemeet.com.
All she ever saw of Jackson was a photograph he sent her. She never talked to him on the telephone because he said he was in Iraq and barred from the phone for security reasons.
"It looked like, you know, a military guy," she said of the photo. "He was good looking ... he was in uniform."
Related
Jackson soon began asking for money, first because he said he had been a victim of fraud, his accounts were frozen and he could not do anything because he was in Iraq. Then he said he wanted to invest in a car shipping business with her -- and she quickly emptied out her retirement account.
She said Jackson could be convincing: "He would say things like, 'We're going to live together. We're going to be happy together. You're the woman of my dreams.' Things that a woman who is hurting for attention and love would want to hear."
But he quickly stopped messaging her when he realized she was not going to send more money.
Ortiz-Rodeghero reported the scam to police in Castle Rock, Colo., who say they have turned the case over to the FBI.
"I know my money is gone and I will probably never get it back, but if I can help someone not go through this then I've done my job," she said.
