Man Poses as Fallen War Hero to Meet Women Online
An online dating fraud was uncovered recently, and oddly enough, it involves online poker, Facebook and a particularly handsome deceased soldier’s photograph. Apparently a man by the assumed name of Dylan Sorvino was meeting women on Facebook by using the strikingly good looking photo of the dead soldier in uniform, then playing online poker with them while getting to know them better over the internet.
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The culprit easily attracted women, not just with the false photo identity, but with his stories of being deployed over sees, and his inability to cite his location due to “national security”. He went so far as to set up dates to meet these women as soon as he returned from his deployment, but never showed up for any of the meetings.
It was eventually discovered that ‘Dylan Sorvino’ was nothing more than a fraudulent name used to sign up an account on Facebook. The photo actually belonged to Army Ranger Sergeant Roberto Sanchez, an American soldier who was tragically killed on October 1, 2009 in Kandahar, Afghanistan during his fifth deployment. He was only 24 years old.
The story was uncovered when one of the offender’s victims happened to be searching through photos of deceased soldiers while seeking out information about a friend who suffered a similar fate. That’s when she came across the photograph of Sgt Roberto Sanchez, and the entire Sorvino weave began to unravel.
Incredibly upset by the entire ordeal, the woman contacted Wendy Holland, the mother of the young deceased soldier. Sanchez’s mother was devastated, to say the least. Losing a son was difficult enough, but knowing that someone was exploiting her son’s too-short life for their own deceptive gain, when he had no way of defending himself, was overwhelmingly distressing.
Holland spoke to ABC news, who first broke the story, about her opinion of the assumed ‘Dylan Sorvino’. “He went looking for a soldier that passed. That’s what hurts me the most. He wanted to find a picture of someone who he knew couldn’t come after him.
“[Roberto] died for a cause that he believed in,” Sanchez’s mother continued, proud of her son who joined the military in 2004 upon completing his first year of college. “And this guy chooses to pretend he’s a soldier. How [can] someone portray someone who died for our country? No one should ever use anyones identity, but I wouldn’t be so angry if he hadn’t gone searching for a fallen soldier.
It’s truly heartbreaking seeing stories of exploitation, but the courage of those who uncovered the truth is truly inspiring. I’m amazed at their dedication!
The unraveling of this scam story offers a surprising and poignant insight into the complexities of online interactions. The meticulous exposure of the deceit, combined with the emotional depth revealed, truly astonishes and inspires reflection on the importance of integrity and truth in digital spaces.