Quite a shocker! A bunch of millionaires are so easily fooled by a 24-year-old!!! These are rich, successful, and educated men who run big businesses and companies. Yet they blindly gave money to somebody they had never even met!

Sometime in January 2008, the Florida bachelor was clicking through a dating Web site for the "rich and gorgeous" when he stumbled onto the profile of someone claiming to be fashion model Bree Condon, authorities said.

The two struck up a romantic relationship that included late-night phone chats, e-mails and text messages for more than a year, during which the bachelor sent about $13,000 to his love interest.

It was all a fraud, according to Austin police.

Instead of the sexy swimsuit model, Marc Puleo was in contact with a 24-year-old Pflugerville man named Justin Adam Brown, who acknowledged to investigators that he has "a very effeminate voice," Detective Carl Satterlee said Wednesday.

Authorities say Brown may have used computer software to superimpose Condon's face onto pictures of nude women he sent to Puleo and other men to keep the relationships going.Source: www.statesman.com

Brown has been doing it for the money. He is reported to have been trolling dating websites for the last 4 years. He posted himself as Bree Corndon, the 23-year old Guess model looking for Mr. Right. And after some months of cyber-dating, he would ask for money using some genuine excuse like lost my luggage at the airport, etc.

For would-be sugar daddies perusing SeekingMillionaire .com -- "the meeting place for wealthy and beautiful singles" -- there was much to like about profile #160127. "Bree" identified herself as a 23-year-old model from Newport Beach, and the accompanying photos showed an emerald-eyed beauty with a mane of silky brown hair and a wraparound smile that seemed both sexy and sweet.

"Just looking for Mr. Right," her brief self-description read. If the pictures -- one in a backless dress at a party, another in a clingy halter top -- seemed somehow familiar, a quick Internet search offered an explanation: Bree Condon, 23, of Newport Beach was a successful model and aspiring actress who'd done a Guess jeans campaign and posed for Maxim magazine's swimsuit issue.Source: www.latimes.com

He used his high pitch voice and photoshopped pictures to entice suitors. He would refuse to meet suitors face-to-face, instead sending steamy photos or having intimate phone conversations. The steamy photos were pictures of nude models with Bree Conon's face photoshopped on top.

He was finally arrested at a Motel 6 in Austin TX after receiving a tip Dec. 9 from a private investigator hired by the "real" Condon.

"We think there are a lot of other [duped] guys out there. How many, I don't know," Austin police Det. Carl Satterlee said.

"He [Brown] had this whole persona created," said John Carbona, a private investor and inventor from Fort Myers, Fla., who encountered Brown posing as Condon on another social media site. Carbona said Brown used real details about Condon's family -- including her parents' occupations and the number of siblings she has -- in an attempt to shake him down for money. "You have to hand it to this kid. He stayed in character for two years."Source: www.latimes.com

It is reported that Condon hired a private investigator for help after she was harassed over the years by men at clubs in New York and Los Angeles who told her they'd been helping her financially.

Her reputation also has taken an online beating.

A commenter — the person used the name Justin Brown — on the Web site whosdatedwho.com said Condon was "really sweet at first, then it's $5,000 a month just to be one of her boyfriends."

Another wrote, "She scams men for money and she is extremely psychotic."

Source: www.statesman.com

The upside is that it shows the existence of faith and trust in people. However, succumbing to sexual fantasies and desperation and dishing out large amounts of dollars like this is outright foolish in my opinion. We tell our kids not even to talk to strangers but as we grow up we forget the basic rules!!! Identity theft is one of the scariest crimes that exists today and it could happen to anybody.Everybody should learn a lesson from this case. It is completely up to us to protect ourselves.