Wanna-Be SEALS & "Special Ops" Pretenders

When 65-year-old David Silbergeld was found dead in a quiet Delaware park -- the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head -- few familiar with his case were surprised. Silbergeld had become much maligned in the small Pennsylvania town where he had been an adjunct community college professor and something of a local celebrity. Silbergeld was fired from his job and found himself the target of federal scrutiny when it was revealed that his long-time claims of having been a Navy SEAL were fraudulent. Moreover, Silbergeld was receiving full V.A. disability as a result of ongoing symptoms stemming from his special-forces service in Vietnam.

In fact, Silbergeld, like thousands of other special-forces pretenders, had never enrolled or graduated from any military special forces school or program. Although he claimed to have killed eleven enemy troops in hand-to-hand combat, no evidence of any combat experience existed. At some point along the path in Silbergeld's grandiose fabrication, those familiar with real SEAL training became suspicious and David Silbergeld had the grave misfortune of becoming the focus of a veteran’s organization devoted to uncovering SEAL fakes. In short order, Silbergeld's lies were made public, his heroic house of cards collapsed, and he took a walk with a revolver rather than face the consequences of his sham.

In recent years, several special-forces watchdog groups have sprung up to combat the problem of phony SEALS and fraudulent medal winners. Wall Street Journal writer, Amy Chozick, recently showcased the work of two of these groups, AuthentiSEAL.org, and VeriSEAL.org. Both groups are run by genuine SEALs, mostly veterans who are sick and tired of hearing wannabe's claim membership in their elite fraternity. Both groups boast remarkable success in identifying frauds and their websites often contain extensive lists, even photos, of those they have outed as imposters. At times, these watchdog groups are tenacious in exposing the fakes to their families, employers, and communities. At present, AuthentiSEAL.org claims to have uncovered about 20,000 SEAL fakers. The tone of these organizations suggests a broad assumption that all fakers mean to diminish the glory of genuine SEALS and that all should be tracked down and humiliated. There is no record of the personal aftermath for their victims nor any body count ticker for suicides. It is unlikely that David Silbergeld was the first. He certainly won’t be the last.

The purpose of this short treatise on faux Navy SEALS is not to stick up for special-forces fakers, nor am I interested in questioning the motives or methods of those who hunt them down. As a former naval officer, I object to any deceit related to one’s military record and I hold particular admiration for colleagues who have what it takes to make it in the SEALS.

My objective is merely to broaden our perspective on the why question. Why fake a special-forces background? Too often we might assume that all fraudulent SEALS are malignant sociopaths bent on milking the SEAL ruse for all it’s worth. If we see these men as deliberately exploitive, lacking any conscience or remorse, and fundamentally criminal in the sense of using the fraud for immediate and tangible gain (e.g., cash, benefits, employment) then they might indeed meet diagnostic criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder (sociopathy) and severe consequences are easy to justify.

But experience suggests there are other "types" or clusters hidden in the population of would-be SEALS. In addition to old fashioned sociopathy, I propose that there are at least three other prominent motivations leading to SEAL (or Special Ops) faking.

First, there are the Narcissists. The Narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by extreme egotism, arrogance, an unquenchable need for tribute and admiration, and an ongoing wish to be seen as special or unusual. True, the Narcissist is lying about his SEAL record just like the Antisocial, but his reasons are different. The Narcissist is using a SEAL persona to gratify profound needs for attention and may be uninterested in any tangible gain. Think of the Narcissistic fake SEAL as making a desperate attempt to compensate for his own sense of inadequacy; yes, Freud would say the man has SEAL envy. This type is so convinced of his own worthlessness that only perpetual adulation will ease the pain -- enter the SEAL.

A second, though considerably less common variety of faker is the traumatized veteran. Here we see a service member who actually did time in the service, and may have been involved in combat. He suffers from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and may have related memory difficulties or in rare circumstances, psychotic symptoms. Very gradually, his service-related stories morph to incorporate affiliation with special-forces, unusual missions, or other false information. What part of this is deliberate and what part is more unconscious and linked to traumatic symptoms? In some cases, this is not at all clear.

A final profile among the ranks of faux SEALS is that of the utilitarian fibber. I suspect this may constitute one of the largest groups of special-forces frauds. The utilitarian fibber adopts a false SEAL persona only in isolated circumstances -- at least at first -- to get jobs, get friends, or to get laid. (this would apply to Barber, Thomas & Haberman)

One would not be surprised to see younger, less mature folks in this group. In this instance, the deceiver slings on the SEAL story like a cape, hoping to use the elite persona to leverage access to career advancement, social status, or perhaps just the sack. In contrast to the antisocial or the narcissist, expect this fake to fess up more readily when confronted; he has less to lose by coming clean.

Posing as a member of the special-forces is clearly illegal, not to mention upsetting for all of us who respect and admire the real thing. But remember that SEAL fakers are a varied bunch. While some are malignant; others are just pathetic. ...we should hold all of them accountable...

from: http://www.military.com

(This applies to our exposed predators: Phil Haberman, Nathan E.B. Thomas, Jr., Joseph Cafasso and William Michael Barber. (see list on upper right column of this blog and click the name for more information) While some didn't say they were SEALS, they did lie about their military involvements. Thomas even implied he was CIA and fighting the Taliban. LOL

Barber used his special military training to con his way into a job as a criminal investigator. Cafasso got the media to buy him as a "Terrorism Expert!"

The only terrorism these guys know is the emotional and mental lies they visit upon their hapless victims! - EOPC)

Wanna-Be SEALS & "Special Ops" Pretenders

When 65-year-old David Silbergeld was found dead in a quiet Delaware park -- the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head -- few familiar with his case were surprised. Silbergeld had become much maligned in the small Pennsylvania town where he had been an adjunct community college professor and something of a local celebrity. Silbergeld was fired from his job and found himself the target of federal scrutiny when it was revealed that his long-time claims of having been a Navy SEAL were fraudulent. Moreover, Silbergeld was receiving full V.A. disability as a result of ongoing symptoms stemming from his special-forces service in Vietnam.

In fact, Silbergeld, like thousands of other special-forces pretenders, had never enrolled or graduated from any military special forces school or program. Although he claimed to have killed eleven enemy troops in hand-to-hand combat, no evidence of any combat experience existed. At some point along the path in Silbergeld's grandiose fabrication, those familiar with real SEAL training became suspicious and David Silbergeld had the grave misfortune of becoming the focus of a veteran’s organization devoted to uncovering SEAL fakes. In short order, Silbergeld's lies were made public, his heroic house of cards collapsed, and he took a walk with a revolver rather than face the consequences of his sham.

In recent years, several special-forces watchdog groups have sprung up to combat the problem of phony SEALS and fraudulent medal winners. Wall Street Journal writer, Amy Chozick, recently showcased the work of two of these groups, AuthentiSEAL.org, and VeriSEAL.org. Both groups are run by genuine SEALs, mostly veterans who are sick and tired of hearing wannabe's claim membership in their elite fraternity. Both groups boast remarkable success in identifying frauds and their websites often contain extensive lists, even photos, of those they have outed as imposters. At times, these watchdog groups are tenacious in exposing the fakes to their families, employers, and communities. At present, AuthentiSEAL.org claims to have uncovered about 20,000 SEAL fakers. The tone of these organizations suggests a broad assumption that all fakers mean to diminish the glory of genuine SEALS and that all should be tracked down and humiliated. There is no record of the personal aftermath for their victims nor any body count ticker for suicides. It is unlikely that David Silbergeld was the first. He certainly won’t be the last.

The purpose of this short treatise on faux Navy SEALS is not to stick up for special-forces fakers, nor am I interested in questioning the motives or methods of those who hunt them down. As a former naval officer, I object to any deceit related to one’s military record and I hold particular admiration for colleagues who have what it takes to make it in the SEALS.

My objective is merely to broaden our perspective on the why question. Why fake a special-forces background? Too often we might assume that all fraudulent SEALS are malignant sociopaths bent on milking the SEAL ruse for all it’s worth. If we see these men as deliberately exploitive, lacking any conscience or remorse, and fundamentally criminal in the sense of using the fraud for immediate and tangible gain (e.g., cash, benefits, employment) then they might indeed meet diagnostic criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder (sociopathy) and severe consequences are easy to justify.

But experience suggests there are other "types" or clusters hidden in the population of would-be SEALS. In addition to old fashioned sociopathy, I propose that there are at least three other prominent motivations leading to SEAL (or Special Ops) faking.

First, there are the Narcissists. The Narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by extreme egotism, arrogance, an unquenchable need for tribute and admiration, and an ongoing wish to be seen as special or unusual. True, the Narcissist is lying about his SEAL record just like the Antisocial, but his reasons are different. The Narcissist is using a SEAL persona to gratify profound needs for attention and may be uninterested in any tangible gain. Think of the Narcissistic fake SEAL as making a desperate attempt to compensate for his own sense of inadequacy; yes, Freud would say the man has SEAL envy. This type is so convinced of his own worthlessness that only perpetual adulation will ease the pain -- enter the SEAL.

A second, though considerably less common variety of faker is the traumatized veteran. Here we see a service member who actually did time in the service, and may have been involved in combat. He suffers from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and may have related memory difficulties or in rare circumstances, psychotic symptoms. Very gradually, his service-related stories morph to incorporate affiliation with special-forces, unusual missions, or other false information. What part of this is deliberate and what part is more unconscious and linked to traumatic symptoms? In some cases, this is not at all clear.

A final profile among the ranks of faux SEALS is that of the utilitarian fibber. I suspect this may constitute one of the largest groups of special-forces frauds. The utilitarian fibber adopts a false SEAL persona only in isolated circumstances -- at least at first -- to get jobs, get friends, or to get laid. (this would apply to Barber, Thomas & Haberman)

One would not be surprised to see younger, less mature folks in this group. In this instance, the deceiver slings on the SEAL story like a cape, hoping to use the elite persona to leverage access to career advancement, social status, or perhaps just the sack. In contrast to the antisocial or the narcissist, expect this fake to fess up more readily when confronted; he has less to lose by coming clean.

Posing as a member of the special-forces is clearly illegal, not to mention upsetting for all of us who respect and admire the real thing. But remember that SEAL fakers are a varied bunch. While some are malignant; others are just pathetic. ...we should hold all of them accountable...

from: http://www.military.com

(This applies to our exposed predators: Phil Haberman, Nathan E.B. Thomas, Jr., Joseph Cafasso and William Michael Barber. (see list on upper right column of this blog and click the name for more information) While some didn't say they were SEALS, they did lie about their military involvements. Thomas even implied he was CIA and fighting the Taliban. LOL

Barber used his special military training to con his way into a job as a criminal investigator. Cafasso got the media to buy him as a "Terrorism Expert!"

The only terrorism these guys know is the emotional and mental lies they visit upon their hapless victims! - EOPC)

ONLINE "COLONEL" SEEMED LIKE A CATCH!

STAY AWAY FROM ONLINE DATING! - EOPC
Con artist uses Marine’s identity to scam women
By Kimberly Johnson

Wendy McKay thought she had met someone special when the Marine colonel deployed to Iraq started chatting with her on the online dating Web site.

Someone claiming to be Col. Richard Bartch told her he was in Iraq for the first time after volunteering for duty. And like her, he was divorced. Chats quickly led to e-mails and within a day he sent her photos of himself in uniform.

In one, he stood in his woodland digital-patterned utilities, proudly holding up his Bronze Star citation and medal. In another, he’s lounging in desert cammies in a chair, with his service pistol holster pulled taut across his broad shoulders just next to his name tape.

His e-mails were romantic, echoing the sentiment of a schmaltzy Hallmark greeting card:

“I went to sleep last night with a smile because I knew I’d be dreaming of you ... but I woke up this morning with a smile because you weren’t a dream,” he wrote to the 52-year-old British woman Oct. 21, just one day after they made introductions online. “Though miles may lie between us, we’re never far apart, for friendship doesn’t count the miles, it’s measured by the heart.”

The e-mails quickly picked up intensity.

“[T]he feeling is getting stronger and stronger,” he wrote the next day, Oct 22. “... think it will not be hard to LOVE you huh!”

By Oct. 23, his e-mails reflected he was sure it was love.

“You awakened a part of me that had lay [sic] dormant all of life. [A]lthough [I] had loved and been loved before, never had it been so intense and so deep as what we feel for each other. [T]his much [I] am sure of, we share a love so true that [I] have never before experienced the true joy of complete empowering, soul-felt love as we share,” he said.

McKay almost bought it. That is, until she realized doing so was really going to cost her.

Bartch — or more accurately, the con artist who had stolen the identity of the real Marine officer, from a family-oriented military Web site — wanted her to send him $5,000.
Red flags

On Oct. 20, McKay logged onto a U.K.-based dating Web site, “when I was contacted by a person who seemed to like me and we started to chat,” she said in an e-mail, explaining the initial encounter. At the man’s request, she gave him her e-mail address so they could exchange pictures.

“He sent me [four] photos and he told me he was called Colonel Richard O. Bartch and was a retired USA Marine,” she said in her e-mail to Marine Corps Times. “These pictures were of himself and some of his family when he returned from Iraq and another one was of one of his sons who is also a Marine.”

The photo exchange gave way to a feverish wave of online chats. Some of the photos were older and predated his divorce, he told her, in an effort to explain away the wedding ring he was wearing in some of the shots.

He had three sons, the fake colonel said. Two were natural born, but the middle child — Albert — was adopted after his mother, a Spanish neighbor who lived down the street, died suddenly when he was nine years old.

“The story was so intricate,” she said, in a phone interview from Peterborough, England.

The fake colonel was having trouble contacting Albert and was concerned about him, he told McKay, explaining that a military security regulation prevented him from making or receiving calls from Iraq. He asked her to call Albert on his behalf to check on his welfare, and gave her a phone number with an area code for Atlanta, which he said was his hometown.

McKay called.

Recalling the brief conversation, she said the young man who answered the phone had a thick foreign accent — presumably to corroborate the story of a Spanish mother. He sounded as if he was in his early 20s, she said. In hindsight, McKay now believes he was the scammer himself.

“I think he wanted to see how I’d fallen for it,” she said.

There were other red flags, from the beginning, McKay noted, such as mistakes in grammar and military references. In an early e-mail explaining photos of his sons, Bartch wrote: “Nathan and her mum welcomed me when [I] went back to the states ... and that’s me with the bronze reward.”

Other clues were more subtle. During a chat session, she sensed he was carrying on more than one conversation at the same time. Another time, he told her he had to go out into the field, but asked her to wait. He was only away from his computer for a short time before he returned. To McKay, who once was married to a man in the Royal Air Force, the brevity of his trip “to the field” seemed curious.

On Oct. 30, however, he confided in her that he needed her help urgently. He was in the process of packing up to leave Iraq, but somehow his bag had been intercepted in Ghana. His “diplomatic tag” had run out; he couldn’t pay to renew it while in Iraq and needed £2,500, about $5,000, she said.

“The minute he said that, I logged off,” she said, realizing it was a scam.

“He asked for the money in pounds,” and not in American currency, she said. “He said ‘I’ll pay you back when I come and see you.’”

Seeing red
McKay is not the only woman the faker tried to dupe, but she wants to be the last. She gave copies of the e-mails and the Atlanta telephone number to U.S. military police based in the U.K. and sent a letter to the Marine Corps.

“I wanted [Bartch] to know that someone is impersonating him, and how easy it is,” McKay said.

The photos of the real Col. Richard Bartch are believed to have been copied from the Web site MarineCorpsMoms.com, said the site’s founder, Deborah Conrad. It’s a Web site focused on family morale during military deployments.

Attempts to reach the fake colonel for comment, using both his e-mail address and the Atlanta-area telephone number, went unanswered.

“He has posted under this identity on at least four different dating sites that I am aware of,” said Conrad, who launched MarineCorpsMoms.com in 2004, when a friend deployed to Iraq for the second time.

“I first learned of this a few months back when a woman contacted me to let me know that she had been corresponding with a man she met through an online dating service and had become suspicious when he told her he had a son who was a [sergeant] in the Navy,” Conrad said in an e-mail. “[Whoever] it is, he doesn’t do a very good job of military customs and courtesies.”

The original photos of the real Bartch were given to Conrad for the Web site by his wife, Mary Helen Bartch, when he was deployed to Iraq in 2004, Conrad said. The recent misuse of Bartch’s photos is the only instance Conrad’s aware of where material found on her Web site has been used for a scam, she said in a phone interview.

“I don’t know of any way to stop things like this from happening, other than to never post anything to the Web,” she said.

“One of the things I want my Web site to do is share the successes of wonderful things Marines are doing around the world,” Conrad said. Adding layers of protection, such as locking the personal photos to prevent copying, wasn’t something she had thought she would need to consider.

The whole point of the site is to share, she explained. Some Marine families, for example, have seen photos of their loved ones on deployment for the first time on her site, she added.
Tall tales
The real colonel has heard several of the wild stories, the adventures concocted in his name that also lured in women from Denmark and the state of Georgia.

“Supposedly I had saved a diplomat,” and there was a suitcase with $5 million in reward money waiting for pickup somewhere in Africa, Bartch said in a telephone interview. One woman was preparing to travel to Africa to pick up the money, Bartch said. The impostor told another that his son had been injured, prompting mounting medical bills, and that the impostor needed money for travel expenses.

“It’s a pure Nigerian scam, and unfortunately I got involved with my name in it,” Bartch said.

Marine Corps officials notified Bartch, who they say is listed as being in the Individual Ready Reserve and living in Spokane, Wash., who then notified his banks and law enforcement officials, including the FBI, as a precaution.

The nature of the identity theft — only a name, and a handful of personal photos — limited his options.

“No one can do anything about it. Just because the guy’s using my name, there’s not any real recourse,” Bartch said. “It is a violation, but it’s not like being broken into.”

After word of the scam emerged, Conrad removed Bartch’s photos from the site and things have quieted down.

“I would like to see it dropped,” he said.

Liar, liar
While Marine impersonators are not new, the case highlights a unique area where the persona — and not the personal information, such a Social Security number — of a real person was used in the attempt to scam money.

Hard statistics about online fraud remain vague, but online digital identity theft is on the rise, said Marsali Hancock, president of the Arlington, Va.-based Internet Keep Safe Coalition.

There are simple ways to help guard against online identity theft, she said. Don’t post a person’s name below photos. Use privacy settings on social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook.

“The Internet is forever,” Hancock said. “Whatever you post, you can never fully remove. Once you put your picture up [on the Internet], it’s up there and you lose control over it.”

Internet postings pose potential risk for those in the military, she added.

“It seems like military officers could be at risk because the information they share with their families might not be information that they’d want to share with the world,” she said. “It puts their family at risk,” as well as themselves, she said.

That’s not to say military morale Web sites and blogs should go silent — they should just try to be a little more savvy, she explained. “They can share good news without sharing specific names,” Hancock said.

McKay said she has learned a valuable lesson, but admitted the incident has been a setback. The divorcee of six years said she had only resumed dating within the last couple of years.

“Women are on that [dating] site because they’re looking for a partner, they’re looking for a relationship,” McKay said. “[Scammers] think women on there are divorced, got a good settlement off their husbands and have got money to play with.”

She is no longer using the online dating site.

“I’m very, very wary,” McKay said. “I don’t know if I could trust them again.”

SOURCE

OTHER MILITARY PHONIES WE HAVE COVERED:
Phil Haberman
Nathan Ernest Burl Thomas, Jr.

ONLINE "COLONEL" SEEMED LIKE A CATCH!

STAY AWAY FROM ONLINE DATING! - EOPC
Con artist uses Marine’s identity to scam women
By Kimberly Johnson

Wendy McKay thought she had met someone special when the Marine colonel deployed to Iraq started chatting with her on the online dating Web site.

Someone claiming to be Col. Richard Bartch told her he was in Iraq for the first time after volunteering for duty. And like her, he was divorced. Chats quickly led to e-mails and within a day he sent her photos of himself in uniform.

In one, he stood in his woodland digital-patterned utilities, proudly holding up his Bronze Star citation and medal. In another, he’s lounging in desert cammies in a chair, with his service pistol holster pulled taut across his broad shoulders just next to his name tape.

His e-mails were romantic, echoing the sentiment of a schmaltzy Hallmark greeting card:

“I went to sleep last night with a smile because I knew I’d be dreaming of you ... but I woke up this morning with a smile because you weren’t a dream,” he wrote to the 52-year-old British woman Oct. 21, just one day after they made introductions online. “Though miles may lie between us, we’re never far apart, for friendship doesn’t count the miles, it’s measured by the heart.”

The e-mails quickly picked up intensity.

“[T]he feeling is getting stronger and stronger,” he wrote the next day, Oct 22. “... think it will not be hard to LOVE you huh!”

By Oct. 23, his e-mails reflected he was sure it was love.

“You awakened a part of me that had lay [sic] dormant all of life. [A]lthough [I] had loved and been loved before, never had it been so intense and so deep as what we feel for each other. [T]his much [I] am sure of, we share a love so true that [I] have never before experienced the true joy of complete empowering, soul-felt love as we share,” he said.

McKay almost bought it. That is, until she realized doing so was really going to cost her.

Bartch — or more accurately, the con artist who had stolen the identity of the real Marine officer, from a family-oriented military Web site — wanted her to send him $5,000.
Red flags

On Oct. 20, McKay logged onto a U.K.-based dating Web site, “when I was contacted by a person who seemed to like me and we started to chat,” she said in an e-mail, explaining the initial encounter. At the man’s request, she gave him her e-mail address so they could exchange pictures.

“He sent me [four] photos and he told me he was called Colonel Richard O. Bartch and was a retired USA Marine,” she said in her e-mail to Marine Corps Times. “These pictures were of himself and some of his family when he returned from Iraq and another one was of one of his sons who is also a Marine.”

The photo exchange gave way to a feverish wave of online chats. Some of the photos were older and predated his divorce, he told her, in an effort to explain away the wedding ring he was wearing in some of the shots.

He had three sons, the fake colonel said. Two were natural born, but the middle child — Albert — was adopted after his mother, a Spanish neighbor who lived down the street, died suddenly when he was nine years old.

“The story was so intricate,” she said, in a phone interview from Peterborough, England.

The fake colonel was having trouble contacting Albert and was concerned about him, he told McKay, explaining that a military security regulation prevented him from making or receiving calls from Iraq. He asked her to call Albert on his behalf to check on his welfare, and gave her a phone number with an area code for Atlanta, which he said was his hometown.

McKay called.

Recalling the brief conversation, she said the young man who answered the phone had a thick foreign accent — presumably to corroborate the story of a Spanish mother. He sounded as if he was in his early 20s, she said. In hindsight, McKay now believes he was the scammer himself.

“I think he wanted to see how I’d fallen for it,” she said.

There were other red flags, from the beginning, McKay noted, such as mistakes in grammar and military references. In an early e-mail explaining photos of his sons, Bartch wrote: “Nathan and her mum welcomed me when [I] went back to the states ... and that’s me with the bronze reward.”

Other clues were more subtle. During a chat session, she sensed he was carrying on more than one conversation at the same time. Another time, he told her he had to go out into the field, but asked her to wait. He was only away from his computer for a short time before he returned. To McKay, who once was married to a man in the Royal Air Force, the brevity of his trip “to the field” seemed curious.

On Oct. 30, however, he confided in her that he needed her help urgently. He was in the process of packing up to leave Iraq, but somehow his bag had been intercepted in Ghana. His “diplomatic tag” had run out; he couldn’t pay to renew it while in Iraq and needed £2,500, about $5,000, she said.

“The minute he said that, I logged off,” she said, realizing it was a scam.

“He asked for the money in pounds,” and not in American currency, she said. “He said ‘I’ll pay you back when I come and see you.’”

Seeing red
McKay is not the only woman the faker tried to dupe, but she wants to be the last. She gave copies of the e-mails and the Atlanta telephone number to U.S. military police based in the U.K. and sent a letter to the Marine Corps.

“I wanted [Bartch] to know that someone is impersonating him, and how easy it is,” McKay said.

The photos of the real Col. Richard Bartch are believed to have been copied from the Web site MarineCorpsMoms.com, said the site’s founder, Deborah Conrad. It’s a Web site focused on family morale during military deployments.

Attempts to reach the fake colonel for comment, using both his e-mail address and the Atlanta-area telephone number, went unanswered.

“He has posted under this identity on at least four different dating sites that I am aware of,” said Conrad, who launched MarineCorpsMoms.com in 2004, when a friend deployed to Iraq for the second time.

“I first learned of this a few months back when a woman contacted me to let me know that she had been corresponding with a man she met through an online dating service and had become suspicious when he told her he had a son who was a [sergeant] in the Navy,” Conrad said in an e-mail. “[Whoever] it is, he doesn’t do a very good job of military customs and courtesies.”

The original photos of the real Bartch were given to Conrad for the Web site by his wife, Mary Helen Bartch, when he was deployed to Iraq in 2004, Conrad said. The recent misuse of Bartch’s photos is the only instance Conrad’s aware of where material found on her Web site has been used for a scam, she said in a phone interview.

“I don’t know of any way to stop things like this from happening, other than to never post anything to the Web,” she said.

“One of the things I want my Web site to do is share the successes of wonderful things Marines are doing around the world,” Conrad said. Adding layers of protection, such as locking the personal photos to prevent copying, wasn’t something she had thought she would need to consider.

The whole point of the site is to share, she explained. Some Marine families, for example, have seen photos of their loved ones on deployment for the first time on her site, she added.
Tall tales
The real colonel has heard several of the wild stories, the adventures concocted in his name that also lured in women from Denmark and the state of Georgia.

“Supposedly I had saved a diplomat,” and there was a suitcase with $5 million in reward money waiting for pickup somewhere in Africa, Bartch said in a telephone interview. One woman was preparing to travel to Africa to pick up the money, Bartch said. The impostor told another that his son had been injured, prompting mounting medical bills, and that the impostor needed money for travel expenses.

“It’s a pure Nigerian scam, and unfortunately I got involved with my name in it,” Bartch said.

Marine Corps officials notified Bartch, who they say is listed as being in the Individual Ready Reserve and living in Spokane, Wash., who then notified his banks and law enforcement officials, including the FBI, as a precaution.

The nature of the identity theft — only a name, and a handful of personal photos — limited his options.

“No one can do anything about it. Just because the guy’s using my name, there’s not any real recourse,” Bartch said. “It is a violation, but it’s not like being broken into.”

After word of the scam emerged, Conrad removed Bartch’s photos from the site and things have quieted down.

“I would like to see it dropped,” he said.

Liar, liar
While Marine impersonators are not new, the case highlights a unique area where the persona — and not the personal information, such a Social Security number — of a real person was used in the attempt to scam money.

Hard statistics about online fraud remain vague, but online digital identity theft is on the rise, said Marsali Hancock, president of the Arlington, Va.-based Internet Keep Safe Coalition.

There are simple ways to help guard against online identity theft, she said. Don’t post a person’s name below photos. Use privacy settings on social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook.

“The Internet is forever,” Hancock said. “Whatever you post, you can never fully remove. Once you put your picture up [on the Internet], it’s up there and you lose control over it.”

Internet postings pose potential risk for those in the military, she added.

“It seems like military officers could be at risk because the information they share with their families might not be information that they’d want to share with the world,” she said. “It puts their family at risk,” as well as themselves, she said.

That’s not to say military morale Web sites and blogs should go silent — they should just try to be a little more savvy, she explained. “They can share good news without sharing specific names,” Hancock said.

McKay said she has learned a valuable lesson, but admitted the incident has been a setback. The divorcee of six years said she had only resumed dating within the last couple of years.

“Women are on that [dating] site because they’re looking for a partner, they’re looking for a relationship,” McKay said. “[Scammers] think women on there are divorced, got a good settlement off their husbands and have got money to play with.”

She is no longer using the online dating site.

“I’m very, very wary,” McKay said. “I don’t know if I could trust them again.”

SOURCE

OTHER MILITARY PHONIES WE HAVE COVERED:
Phil Haberman
Nathan Ernest Burl Thomas, Jr.

Canada Online Predator Sentenced to Prison

A Winnipeg, Canada man who abused and assaulted women he met online or over the phone was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison, minus 1½ years for time already served.

Terrance Moquin, 38, was described in provincial court Tuesday as a predator and master manipulator who has committed a long list of similar offences.

His latest convictions are for assault, uttering threats and violating probation.

Court heard that in April 2007, Moquin met a Winnipeg mother on a telephone chat line.

Their communications continued online until they arranged to meet in person. The day after that first meeting, he moved in with her.

Over the next six weeks, Moquin assaulted the woman several times and attacked and threatened her 12-year-old daughter, court was told.

According to court records, over the past 15 years Moquin was convicted several times after using phone chat lines and the internet to connect with his victims, employing various aliases. He would often tell them he was a military man from the U.S. working in Canada.

Once he gained women's trust, Moquin would steal from them and begin terrorizing them, court heard. Most of the time, they would end up assaulted and defrauded, with their children abused in some way.

In one case in 2004, Moquin used a hypodermic needle to inject a boy with an unknown substance that gave him double vision, according to Crown Attorney Cindy Soldice, who called Moquin "sadistic" and "relentless."

Soldice requested a prison sentence of seven years, but provincial Judge Ken Champagne decided on eight years, with credit for time already served.

MORE ON THIS PREDATOR

Canada Online Predator Sentenced to Prison

A Winnipeg, Canada man who abused and assaulted women he met online or over the phone was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison, minus 1½ years for time already served.

Terrance Moquin, 38, was described in provincial court Tuesday as a predator and master manipulator who has committed a long list of similar offences.

His latest convictions are for assault, uttering threats and violating probation.

Court heard that in April 2007, Moquin met a Winnipeg mother on a telephone chat line.

Their communications continued online until they arranged to meet in person. The day after that first meeting, he moved in with her.

Over the next six weeks, Moquin assaulted the woman several times and attacked and threatened her 12-year-old daughter, court was told.

According to court records, over the past 15 years Moquin was convicted several times after using phone chat lines and the internet to connect with his victims, employing various aliases. He would often tell them he was a military man from the U.S. working in Canada.

Once he gained women's trust, Moquin would steal from them and begin terrorizing them, court heard. Most of the time, they would end up assaulted and defrauded, with their children abused in some way.

In one case in 2004, Moquin used a hypodermic needle to inject a boy with an unknown substance that gave him double vision, according to Crown Attorney Cindy Soldice, who called Moquin "sadistic" and "relentless."

Soldice requested a prison sentence of seven years, but provincial Judge Ken Champagne decided on eight years, with credit for time already served.

MORE ON THIS PREDATOR

Online Predator Targetted Mothers

Man acted out death threats against children; More prison time sought

by Mike McIntyre

He is described as a serial predator who scours the Internet for vulnerable single mothers, wins their hearts with a bogus tale of bravado and then terrorizes them and their children.

Terrance Moquin has left a trail of dashed hopes and devastated victims across Canada and in the United States in a 15-year crime spree. Now a Manitoba Crown attorney wants the justice system to fight back.

"He's sadistic, manipulative and relentless in his offences. He appears to be unstoppable, whether he's on parole, probation, on release or, for that matter, even when he's in jail," prosecutor Cindy Sholdice told provincial court Judge Ken Champagne in calling for a seven-year prison sentence.

"He is capable of extreme physical and mental violence against vulnerable individuals."

Moquin, 38, is expected to learn his fate Tuesday morning after being convicted of his latest crimes, which involve befriending a single mother of two children in an online chat room and then assaulting her when the relationship turned sour in 2007. Moquin was on parole and probation at the time and required to report all relationships to justice officials, which he failed to do.

"Over and over and over again... he manipulated his probation officers. They never suspected a thing," Sholdice said during her sentencing submissions last week.

Like past victims, Moquin told the woman his name was really "Lane Kidd," a former U.S. Marine and trained sniper from Texas who had fought in Iraq and moved to western Manitoba to pursue a successful career in the oil and trucking industry. He even proudly showed off his army tattoo.

Moquin's adult criminal history dates back to the early 1990s, when he repeatedly attacked his wife when she confronted him about his penchant for using phone-sex chat lines. He forced the woman to perform oral sex on him while holding a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her in front of their young son, court was told.

Moquin got out of jail in 1998 and quickly befriended a married woman in Red Deer, Alta. He eventually moved into the home -- her husband was on a lengthy work-related stint overseas -- and began to administer "corporal punishment" to her three children, aged 7, 9 and 11.

His most disturbing act involved telling the kids he was going to kill them all and forcing them to choose the means -- a beating, hanging or throat-slitting. Moquin then began to act out the death scenarios, even tying a dog collar around one child's neck and holding him over the side of a staircase, court was told.

He was given two years in prison and three years' probation for those incidents. A parole report claimed Moquin displayed a "callous disregard for the rights of others."

Moquin continued a similar pattern of behaviour following his release, meeting nearly a dozen women in Manitoba through the Internet.

Their romances usually ended when Moquin got caught stealing money from them and/or abusing them and their children, court was told.

Moquin received several short jail terms in the early 2000s, usually not for more than about six months at a time.

In 2005, he befriended a married woman from Minot, N.D. and convinced her to come to Winnipeg to post bail for him after one of his arrests for breaching terms of his probation. She left her husband and children, believing Moquin's story that he'd got into a fight while "defending the American flag" with a rude Canadian, court was told. She was intercepted by police who told her the truth about her online lover.

Moquin has spent the past year in custody, and the Crown is seeking up to six more years in prison. Defence lawyer Jody Ostapiw said her client only deserves another year behind bars, saying he can't be given extra punishment just for being a chronic "liar."

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

MIKE ON CRIME

Online Predator Targetted Mothers

Man acted out death threats against children; More prison time sought

by Mike McIntyre

He is described as a serial predator who scours the Internet for vulnerable single mothers, wins their hearts with a bogus tale of bravado and then terrorizes them and their children.

Terrance Moquin has left a trail of dashed hopes and devastated victims across Canada and in the United States in a 15-year crime spree. Now a Manitoba Crown attorney wants the justice system to fight back.

"He's sadistic, manipulative and relentless in his offences. He appears to be unstoppable, whether he's on parole, probation, on release or, for that matter, even when he's in jail," prosecutor Cindy Sholdice told provincial court Judge Ken Champagne in calling for a seven-year prison sentence.

"He is capable of extreme physical and mental violence against vulnerable individuals."

Moquin, 38, is expected to learn his fate Tuesday morning after being convicted of his latest crimes, which involve befriending a single mother of two children in an online chat room and then assaulting her when the relationship turned sour in 2007. Moquin was on parole and probation at the time and required to report all relationships to justice officials, which he failed to do.

"Over and over and over again... he manipulated his probation officers. They never suspected a thing," Sholdice said during her sentencing submissions last week.

Like past victims, Moquin told the woman his name was really "Lane Kidd," a former U.S. Marine and trained sniper from Texas who had fought in Iraq and moved to western Manitoba to pursue a successful career in the oil and trucking industry. He even proudly showed off his army tattoo.

Moquin's adult criminal history dates back to the early 1990s, when he repeatedly attacked his wife when she confronted him about his penchant for using phone-sex chat lines. He forced the woman to perform oral sex on him while holding a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her in front of their young son, court was told.

Moquin got out of jail in 1998 and quickly befriended a married woman in Red Deer, Alta. He eventually moved into the home -- her husband was on a lengthy work-related stint overseas -- and began to administer "corporal punishment" to her three children, aged 7, 9 and 11.

His most disturbing act involved telling the kids he was going to kill them all and forcing them to choose the means -- a beating, hanging or throat-slitting. Moquin then began to act out the death scenarios, even tying a dog collar around one child's neck and holding him over the side of a staircase, court was told.

He was given two years in prison and three years' probation for those incidents. A parole report claimed Moquin displayed a "callous disregard for the rights of others."

Moquin continued a similar pattern of behaviour following his release, meeting nearly a dozen women in Manitoba through the Internet.

Their romances usually ended when Moquin got caught stealing money from them and/or abusing them and their children, court was told.

Moquin received several short jail terms in the early 2000s, usually not for more than about six months at a time.

In 2005, he befriended a married woman from Minot, N.D. and convinced her to come to Winnipeg to post bail for him after one of his arrests for breaching terms of his probation. She left her husband and children, believing Moquin's story that he'd got into a fight while "defending the American flag" with a rude Canadian, court was told. She was intercepted by police who told her the truth about her online lover.

Moquin has spent the past year in custody, and the Crown is seeking up to six more years in prison. Defence lawyer Jody Ostapiw said her client only deserves another year behind bars, saying he can't be given extra punishment just for being a chronic "liar."

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

MIKE ON CRIME

Nathan E.B. Thomas Jr's Victim #2 Tells Her Story!

Now let's continue on with Thomas' Victim #2 - his REAL story gets more horrifying in its exploitation and more 'textbook' cyberpath as it goes on. Our comments & opinions are in Dark Blue. There are links embedded in this story as all our posts - so run your cursor over them for further explanations of terms:

I met Nathan E.B. Thomas. Jr. on Interracial Matcher website in August 2004. (uh-oh ONLINE DATING! Here we go again!) He sent me a short polite email saying that it was my eyes that got him. (note he said the SAME thing with Victim #1)

Everything depends on the target of your seduction. Study your prey thoroughly, and choose only those who will prove susceptible to your charms. The right victims are those for whom you can fill a void, who see in you something exotic. They are often isolated or at least somewhat unhappy (perhaps because of recent adverse circumstances), or can easily be made so-for the completely contented person is almost impossible to seduce.

I went away with my children on a holiday the following weekend, and when I returned he had sent me another email asking how the holiday was. Then I received a photo of him. A very straight forward photo of himself standing beside his BMW, and he also sent a poem along with his email.

He told me that his "beloved wife Felicia had died of cancer about 8 years ago". (again the same lies he told Victim #1).

To further win trust, exchange honesty for virtue: establish your "sincerity" by confessing ... -it doesn't have to be real. Sincerity is more important than goodness. Play the victim, then transform your target's sympathy into love.

He sent many many more emails from then on, and included poems that he wrote (probably same poems he sent to all his other victims), as well as songs in almost every other email (exactly the same M.O. as Victim #1).

The trick to making them listen is to say what they want to hear, to fill their ears with whatever is pleasant to them. This is the essence of seductive language. Inflame people's emotions with loaded phrases, flatter them, comfort their insecurities, envelop them in fantasies, sweet words, and promises, and not only will they listen to you, they will lose their will to resist you. Keep your language vague, letting them read into it what they want. Use writing to stir up fantasies and to create an idealized portrait of yourself.

When I asked him what he did for a living, he said that he "caught bad guys". He led me to believe that he was a police officer of some sort, but , after we had met in person, he told me in a rental vehicle, which was always a big black or white Lincoln SUV (he said these rental cars were the only safe place to talk to me about his 'secret job') that he worked with for CIA, with Special Services. (lie! so many Cyberpaths tell women this we have lost count - so has the CIA. Thomas gets all his fantasies from the spy movies he watches and takes notes from, apparently obsessively)

[military]... careers attract men who enjoy power. Furthermore, psychopaths often claim to have done a lot of things in the military that they never did (and some weren’t even in the military). Many psychopaths like to claim they were a mercenary in a war, a political hostage, Navy Seal, or CIA operatives—often none of which is true. Interestingly, what they claim to have done always portrays them in a position of authority or hero-like.

Sandra Brown, MA - WOMEN WHO LOVE PSYCHOPATHS

He would never tell me about how he spent the money or where he had been. He led me to believe he had been with the CIA or other highly secretive government operations.

"Rebecca's Story" - WOMEN WHO LOVE PSYCHOPATHS

He said that after his "wife, Felicia" died that he took on this job after retiring from the military as a sargeant major with the US Air Force. (he was Chief of Housing of the 6th ASG in Germany - NOT a combat officer!)

He told me that he also paid for his mother's condominium and that he had six siblings (portraying himself as wealthy - no wonder he's so 'touchy' about money now and trying to present Victim #2 as 'greedy' LOL! Because being wealthy was part of his self-made fantasy world).

He sent many poems, emails many times every day, said that he "cared for his mother", etc etc. He made me believe I had found an exceptional man who made me willing to open my heart again.

The entire time he knew everything about me, and profiled, groomed and lured me like he did all the other vulnerable all the women he hurt. He had no concern for how vulnerable I and my children may have been -- or anyone else. Looking back, it all make sense now - there were times I would cry over certain things and he would show no emotion whatsoever. (because he's probably a PSYCHOPATH!)

The purpose of the luring stage is to hook her. The purpose of the honeymoon stage is to hoodwink her. In the psychopath’s arsenal to achieve this hooking and hoodwinking, is any person, place, thing, word, or behavior that will sell her on his illusion. While she is reeling in flattery, swimming in oxytocin, and snuggling up to his stories of their future lives together…the psychopath is solidifying his internal imprint in her by his use of trance and capitalizing on her suggestibility. -

Sandra Brown, MA - WOMEN WHO LOVE PSYCHOPATHS

He first visited my family and I in November 2004, and then returned to spend Christmas 2004 with us, taking me away for a few days to Whistler Mountain in Canada. He paid for Christmas gifts for my children, the hotel and everything else, totally sweeping me off of my feet.

Tension and disharmony must be instilled in your targets' minds. Stir within them feelings of discontent, an unhappiness with their circumstances and with themselves: their life lacks adventure...

He made a point of sitting down with my 16 year old son and asking his permission to date me and promised to "never hurt me". (LOL! He was seeing Victim #1 at the same time and it is believed at LEAST one other woman! And this is not including his wife, Georgine - who was sitting in Texas probably waiting for him to come home from his 'latest secret mission'.)

Never appear discouraged by people's resistance, or complaints. Instead, meet the challenge by doing something extreme or chivalrous.

He came back again in February 2005 on Valentines Day, and showered me and my children with gifts. By March 2005 he paid for me to come to Germany, which I was very nervous about flying and leaving my children. However by this time he had my heart, so I went. (love bombing)

The isolation may also be physical: you take them away from their normal milieu, friends, family, home. Give them the sense of being marginalized, in limbo-they are leaving one world behind and entering another. Once isolated like this, they have no outside support, and in their confusion they are easily lead astray. Lure the seduced into your lair, where nothing is familiar.

From then on it was him coming to see me in Canada every other month for two to three week. Then in July 2005 I flew to Germany and we spent 3 weeks driving from Germany through Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Paris, and then going on to the French Riviera. How could anyone who did this be married to someone else? (because he's a con man and had his first wife conned that he was away on 'secret missions.') I would have never guessed. (Exactly what he hoped. And he'd emotionally overwhelmed her so she never googled him or ran a background check. Another thing that the predators on all the online dating sites hope or ask you not to do. ALWAYS, ALWAYS CHECK THEM OUT - ESPECIALLY IF THEY SEEM TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!)

Familiarity and overexposure will cause this reaction. Remain elusive, then, so that when you are away, they will yearn to see you again, and will only associate you with pleasant thoughts. Occupy their minds by alternating an exciting presence with a cool distance, exuberant moments followed by calculated absences. Associate yourself with poetic images and objects, so that when they think of you, they begin to see you through an idealized halo. The more you figure in their minds, the more they will envelop you in seductive fantasies. Feed these fantasies by subtle inconsistencies and changes in your behavior.

He told me that his base was in Germany, and so that is where we would meet when he flew me somewhere to visit when he could not come here. He never stayed at my home, but always a hotel when he came to see me, as he said it was out of respect for my children. (trying to paint himself as ethical & moral - before he moved in for the kill - like they all do. Also gave him a chance to be alone and call or email his wife, all his other victims saying he was on a "secret mission" in Canada for the CIA. LOL!)

"Since psychopaths are chameleons, they pretend to be whatever their women are. They probably mimicked the women’s own moral principles.

By the end of the relationship, she was likely to have become mortified at his immoral behavior and how it took her down a negative path she never intended on."

Sandra Brown, MA - WOMEN WHO LOVE PSYCHOPATHS

Little did I know that his wife since 1995, Georgine, and her two sons (Nathan's step-children) Rickey -- 28 , and David -- 25 lived in Germany, and that he was nothing more than a retired, old, fat man who lied everytime he opened his mouth.

In September of 2005, he came to Canada and told me that the CIA would not let him leave, and that if we were married, they would be more acceptable to having him leave. He wanted to get married in a few days while he was here. It seemed a little rushed (they all RUSH you - with good reason - THEY HAVE AN AGENDA) But by this time he had me believing everything he told me. (BTW - Thomas married Georgine while he was STILL MARRIED to a woman named MARION who lives in Germany and who he has 2 children with. There was a divorce after the fact from Marion however -- the marriage to Georgine is also still BIGAMOUS!)

To keep women from being able to think things through and to respond to red flags, the psychopath induces fast paced relationships, whirlwinds of dating intensity, and uses emotional suffocation techniques. Most women found themselves unable to slow down the race to the altar, to their beds, or into their homes. Since psychopaths are extraverts, they are likely to be persistent (if not forceful) in their pursuit of women.

“He really pursued me... The courtship was very short. Whirlwind trips, gifts and early on started calling me pet names as if we had been together forever. He... called me constantly, texted me, ...sent flowers to home and work, constant emails.”

While this may seem just “dream-like” to her, it’s pure manipulation and planning on his part. Couple his plan to fast-forward the relationship with his poor impulse control and you have a relationship rushing ahead at the speed of light.

Many women realized in retrospect that there was a “reason” the relationship was on the fast-track. The psychopath had a “need” to be filled whether that was needing a place to live, a business partner, or a sex partner - there was an agenda as to why the pacing of the relationship was so fast.

Some psychopaths even hid the motivation behind their fast paced relationship for other reasons...

Even her red flags often were not enough to put the brakes on the forceful momentum the psychopath had going.

Sandra Brown, MA - WOMEN WHO LOVE PSYCHOPATHS

After all, when he wasnt with me at my home, we were talking every morning afternoon and evening via internet. (you and numerous other women)

In retrospect when he "said" he was in the United States, it was in emails. And he "said" he was" going to Iraq to work with Special Services." (Probably the same baloney he told his wife when he was off seeing you or other women. He went to see Victim #1 during this time too. See her story earlier in the month.)

After getting married, we went to Mexico for our honeymoon for 9 days. I know now he spent this time at the time share condominium that he and his first wife Georgine owned! (what a sick man!)

MORE TO COME!

Nathan E.B. Thomas Jr's Victim #2 Tells Her Story!

Now let's continue on with Thomas' Victim #2 - his REAL story gets more horrifying in its exploitation and more 'textbook' cyberpath as it goes on. Our comments & opinions are in Dark Blue. There are links embedded in this story as all our posts - so run your cursor over them for further explanations of terms:

I met Nathan E.B. Thomas. Jr. on Interracial Matcher website in August 2004. (uh-oh ONLINE DATING! Here we go again!) He sent me a short polite email saying that it was my eyes that got him. (note he said the SAME thing with Victim #1)

Everything depends on the target of your seduction. Study your prey thoroughly, and choose only those who will prove susceptible to your charms. The right victims are those for whom you can fill a void, who see in you something exotic. They are often isolated or at least somewhat unhappy (perhaps because of recent adverse circumstances), or can easily be made so-for the completely contented person is almost impossible to seduce.

I went away with my children on a holiday the following weekend, and when I returned he had sent me another email asking how the holiday was. Then I received a photo of him. A very straight forward photo of himself standing beside his BMW, and he also sent a poem along with his email.

He told me that his "beloved wife Felicia had died of cancer about 8 years ago". (again the same lies he told Victim #1).

To further win trust, exchange honesty for virtue: establish your "sincerity" by confessing ... -it doesn't have to be real. Sincerity is more important than goodness. Play the victim, then transform your target's sympathy into love.

He sent many many more emails from then on, and included poems that he wrote (probably same poems he sent to all his other victims), as well as songs in almost every other email (exactly the same M.O. as Victim #1).

The trick to making them listen is to say what they want to hear, to fill their ears with whatever is pleasant to them. This is the essence of seductive language. Inflame people's emotions with loaded phrases, flatter them, comfort their insecurities, envelop them in fantasies, sweet words, and promises, and not only will they listen to you, they will lose their will to resist you. Keep your language vague, letting them read into it what they want. Use writing to stir up fantasies and to create an idealized portrait of yourself.

When I asked him what he did for a living, he said that he "caught bad guys". He led me to believe that he was a police officer of some sort, but , after we had met in person, he told me in a rental vehicle, which was always a big black or white Lincoln SUV (he said these rental cars were the only safe place to talk to me about his 'secret job') that he worked with for CIA, with Special Services. (lie! so many Cyberpaths tell women this we have lost count - so has the CIA. Thomas gets all his fantasies from the spy movies he watches and takes notes from, apparently obsessively)

[military]... careers attract men who enjoy power. Furthermore, psychopaths often claim to have done a lot of things in the military that they never did (and some weren’t even in the military). Many psychopaths like to claim they were a mercenary in a war, a political hostage, Navy Seal, or CIA operatives—often none of which is true. Interestingly, what they claim to have done always portrays them in a position of authority or hero-like.

Sandra Brown, MA - WOMEN WHO LOVE PSYCHOPATHS

He would never tell me about how he spent the money or where he had been. He led me to believe he had been with the CIA or other highly secretive government operations.

"Rebecca's Story" - WOMEN WHO LOVE PSYCHOPATHS

He said that after his "wife, Felicia" died that he took on this job after retiring from the military as a sargeant major with the US Air Force. (he was Chief of Housing of the 6th ASG in Germany - NOT a combat officer!)

He told me that he also paid for his mother's condominium and that he had six siblings (portraying himself as wealthy - no wonder he's so 'touchy' about money now and trying to present Victim #2 as 'greedy' LOL! Because being wealthy was part of his self-made fantasy world).

He sent many poems, emails many times every day, said that he "cared for his mother", etc etc. He made me believe I had found an exceptional man who made me willing to open my heart again.

The entire time he knew everything about me, and profiled, groomed and lured me like he did all the other vulnerable all the women he hurt. He had no concern for how vulnerable I and my children may have been -- or anyone else. Looking back, it all make sense now - there were times I would cry over certain things and he would show no emotion whatsoever. (because he's probably a PSYCHOPATH!)

The purpose of the luring stage is to hook her. The purpose of the honeymoon stage is to hoodwink her. In the psychopath’s arsenal to achieve this hooking and hoodwinking, is any person, place, thing, word, or behavior that will sell her on his illusion. While she is reeling in flattery, swimming in oxytocin, and snuggling up to his stories of their future lives together…the psychopath is solidifying his internal imprint in her by his use of trance and capitalizing on her suggestibility. -

Sandra Brown, MA - WOMEN WHO LOVE PSYCHOPATHS

He first visited my family and I in November 2004, and then returned to spend Christmas 2004 with us, taking me away for a few days to Whistler Mountain in Canada. He paid for Christmas gifts for my children, the hotel and everything else, totally sweeping me off of my feet.

Tension and disharmony must be instilled in your targets' minds. Stir within them feelings of discontent, an unhappiness with their circumstances and with themselves: their life lacks adventure...

He made a point of sitting down with my 16 year old son and asking his permission to date me and promised to "never hurt me". (LOL! He was seeing Victim #1 at the same time and it is believed at LEAST one other woman! And this is not including his wife, Georgine - who was sitting in Texas probably waiting for him to come home from his 'latest secret mission'.)

Never appear discouraged by people's resistance, or complaints. Instead, meet the challenge by doing something extreme or chivalrous.

He came back again in February 2005 on Valentines Day, and showered me and my children with gifts. By March 2005 he paid for me to come to Germany, which I was very nervous about flying and leaving my children. However by this time he had my heart, so I went. (love bombing)

The isolation may also be physical: you take them away from their normal milieu, friends, family, home. Give them the sense of being marginalized, in limbo-they are leaving one world behind and entering another. Once isolated like this, they have no outside support, and in their confusion they are easily lead astray. Lure the seduced into your lair, where nothing is familiar.

From then on it was him coming to see me in Canada every other month for two to three week. Then in July 2005 I flew to Germany and we spent 3 weeks driving from Germany through Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Paris, and then going on to the French Riviera. How could anyone who did this be married to someone else? (because he's a con man and had his first wife conned that he was away on 'secret missions.') I would have never guessed. (Exactly what he hoped. And he'd emotionally overwhelmed her so she never googled him or ran a background check. Another thing that the predators on all the online dating sites hope or ask you not to do. ALWAYS, ALWAYS CHECK THEM OUT - ESPECIALLY IF THEY SEEM TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!)

Familiarity and overexposure will cause this reaction. Remain elusive, then, so that when you are away, they will yearn to see you again, and will only associate you with pleasant thoughts. Occupy their minds by alternating an exciting presence with a cool distance, exuberant moments followed by calculated absences. Associate yourself with poetic images and objects, so that when they think of you, they begin to see you through an idealized halo. The more you figure in their minds, the more they will envelop you in seductive fantasies. Feed these fantasies by subtle inconsistencies and changes in your behavior.

He told me that his base was in Germany, and so that is where we would meet when he flew me somewhere to visit when he could not come here. He never stayed at my home, but always a hotel when he came to see me, as he said it was out of respect for my children. (trying to paint himself as ethical & moral - before he moved in for the kill - like they all do. Also gave him a chance to be alone and call or email his wife, all his other victims saying he was on a "secret mission" in Canada for the CIA. LOL!)

"Since psychopaths are chameleons, they pretend to be whatever their women are. They probably mimicked the women’s own moral principles.

By the end of the relationship, she was likely to have become mortified at his immoral behavior and how it took her down a negative path she never intended on."

Sandra Brown, MA - WOMEN WHO LOVE PSYCHOPATHS

Little did I know that his wife since 1995, Georgine, and her two sons (Nathan's step-children) Rickey -- 28 , and David -- 25 lived in Germany, and that he was nothing more than a retired, old, fat man who lied everytime he opened his mouth.

In September of 2005, he came to Canada and told me that the CIA would not let him leave, and that if we were married, they would be more acceptable to having him leave. He wanted to get married in a few days while he was here. It seemed a little rushed (they all RUSH you - with good reason - THEY HAVE AN AGENDA) But by this time he had me believing everything he told me. (BTW - Thomas married Georgine while he was STILL MARRIED to a woman named MARION who lives in Germany and who he has 2 children with. There was a divorce after the fact from Marion however -- the marriage to Georgine is also still BIGAMOUS!)

To keep women from being able to think things through and to respond to red flags, the psychopath induces fast paced relationships, whirlwinds of dating intensity, and uses emotional suffocation techniques. Most women found themselves unable to slow down the race to the altar, to their beds, or into their homes. Since psychopaths are extraverts, they are likely to be persistent (if not forceful) in their pursuit of women.

“He really pursued me... The courtship was very short. Whirlwind trips, gifts and early on started calling me pet names as if we had been together forever. He... called me constantly, texted me, ...sent flowers to home and work, constant emails.”

While this may seem just “dream-like” to her, it’s pure manipulation and planning on his part. Couple his plan to fast-forward the relationship with his poor impulse control and you have a relationship rushing ahead at the speed of light.

Many women realized in retrospect that there was a “reason” the relationship was on the fast-track. The psychopath had a “need” to be filled whether that was needing a place to live, a business partner, or a sex partner - there was an agenda as to why the pacing of the relationship was so fast.

Some psychopaths even hid the motivation behind their fast paced relationship for other reasons...

Even her red flags often were not enough to put the brakes on the forceful momentum the psychopath had going.

Sandra Brown, MA - WOMEN WHO LOVE PSYCHOPATHS

After all, when he wasnt with me at my home, we were talking every morning afternoon and evening via internet. (you and numerous other women)

In retrospect when he "said" he was in the United States, it was in emails. And he "said" he was" going to Iraq to work with Special Services." (Probably the same baloney he told his wife when he was off seeing you or other women. He went to see Victim #1 during this time too. See her story earlier in the month.)

After getting married, we went to Mexico for our honeymoon for 9 days. I know now he spent this time at the time share condominium that he and his first wife Georgine owned! (what a sick man!)

MORE TO COME!