Internet scams use identities of military men

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A Web of lies about troops
Internet scams use identities of military men to bilk unsuspecting
By MOISES MENDOZA
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Aug. 6, 2010, 9:33AM

Army National Guardsman Jonathan Laureles was proud when the military put out a press release last year trumpeting the six tours in Iraq he's served as a medic.

But a few months ago the native of Cleburne, a Fort Worth suburb, started getting some strange phone calls.

"They were from women, asking if I was an Army doctor, if I had a little boy who was sick, just asking if all the stories were true," recounted Laureles, 29.

A little Googling explained everything. A con man in Africa had created fake Internet dating profiles using Laureles' name and photo from the press release. He then tricked women into sending money overseas.

The Internet has long harbored a cesspool of scam artists who construct tall tales via e-mail, instant messenger or dating sites in attempts to get the vulnerable to wire them cash.

But in recent years, military authorities say, criminals have discovered impersonating military servicemen online is a particularly effective ploy. After all, who can resist a dashing man in uniform?

No one knows exactly how many military men are being impersonated online, but the scale of the growing problem is so widespread authorities can't keep up with it, said Christopher Grey, a spokesman with the Army's Criminal Investigation Command in Virginia. Even top-ranking officials like Gen. David Petraeus are being impersonated.

Finding out too late
"I've personally handled hundreds of reports in the last year. They're from as far away as Australia and Ireland, all over," Grey said.

Because Internet crimes often originate in foreign countries and are so difficult to trace, Grey said there is little investigators can do besides asking victims to report the scams and warning people to be on the lookout.

But many people, like Cindy Bynum of Kennewick, Wash., never hear the warnings and don't find out they've been had until it's too late.

'I'm very dumb'
Last month, the 40-year-old logged onto a dating website for the first time and immediately got an instant message from a Marine colonel with handsome photos.

"He said I was beautiful, and I make him happy, and I'm a godsend," Bynum recounted on Thursday.

Within a few days the colonel said he would come to Washington state to visit her. But first she had to wire money to Corpus Christi to pay the Army to replace him.

She sent $600 before she realized the man whom she loved was a fraud.

"I feel very stupid, Very ashamed. I'm hurt, I'm very dumb," said Bynum as she wept into the phone.

LaNita Herlem just feels deep anger toward whoever is posing as her husband, Army Sgt. 1st Class Bryant Herlem, who was based at Fort Hood and killed in Iraq in 2006.

LaNita Herlem set up a MySpace.com page to memorialize him. But someone used his photos to create an online alter-ego named Harlem Wilson.

She cried for days
"Harlem Wilson" has been floating around online ever since, creating Facebook and MySpace pages and an array of profiles on dating sites, all using Bryant Herlem's pictures.

When LaNita Herlem found out about the imposter, after a scam victim tracked her down, she cried for days.

"It's extremely painful," she said from North Carolina, where she now lives. "It's probably the one thing that has hurt me the most since his death."

Even more frustrating for those affected by the scam is the feeling of helplessness — that the Internet is so nebulous, and authorities so overwhelmed, that the scams can proliferate forever.

Army, police helpless
Although Herlem has contacted the FBI, Internet sites and even her husband's brigade commander for help, Bryant Herlem's face still appears on the Facebook profile for Harlem Wilson.

And the Army and police keep telling Laureles there's nothing they can do to protect his name and photo online.

"They say basically there's not any harm to me, there's no real issue," Laureles said. "It's just really frustrating that someone is using my name, and they're ruining my name."

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