Relationship Cheating Stories

The Postcard in Her Wall: How "Gregory" Bought a Teacher's Trust

There's a postcard tucked into the insulation of a house - a color photo of Venice and a note signed "G." It set off a chain that led a careful, retired fourth-grade teacher to wire $5,000 to a man she had never met; how did a single cardboard postcard become the hinge of a financial deception?

In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the morning Melissa Zeller found the postcard on September 12, 2019, through the online relationship that began on July 5, 2019, and the three-week timeline of requests that ended with Linda Young sending money; how did a profile named Gregory Schmidt, a fabricated backstory about deafness, and perfectly forged invoices persuade a disciplined educator to pay?

Person: Linda Young
Date: September 12, 2019
Event: ConnectUs profile created on July 5, 2019
Amount: $5,000
Investigator: Dennis Reynolds

- Linda Young was 54 years old and had taught fourth grade for 26 years at Dorset Elementary.
- The postcard discovered on insulation batting was a color photograph of Venice with "For when we finally get there together. - G." written on the back.
- A ConnectUs profile for "Gregory Schmidt" appeared on July 5, 2019, claiming he was a 58-year-old architect from Portland who had been deaf since age seven.
- Linda wired $1,800 for alleged ransomware recovery and $3,200 for a fabricated cochlear implant invoice, totaling $5,000.
- The profile photo used images belonging to Robert Norby, a 49-year-old architect in Minneapolis whose photos were harvested without his knowledge.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

He Kept Her Photo: How a Spreadsheet Exposed a Romance Scammer

The photo on a concrete lip and the handwritten note "I kept this one" were the first strange pieces in a scheme that quietly extracted more than $9,000 over months - all without a single in-person meeting. How did a Tuesday night board-game spreadsheet become the single document that unraveled a romance scam?

In this episode, we follow the timeline from the framed photograph found on August 14 to the slow, calibrated conversations that led to repeated transfers, and we trace how a pattern in a game-night attendance and scoring spreadsheet raised the single question that connected everything.

Person: Dawn Mitchell
Location: Tallow Creek
Date found: August 14
Amount sent: more than $9,000
Profile name used: Charles Lewis

- The framed photograph was five by seven inches, cardboard-backed with an acrylic strip, found on a concrete access-cover lip.
- The back of the photo had four words written in blue ballpoint pen: "I kept this one."
- Dawn was 22 years old, commuted 31 miles each way to Waverly Community College, and drove a 2009 hatchback with a cracked windshield.
- The false profile contacted Dawn in late May of the first year and became a steady contact by September of that year.
- Dawn noticed six consecutive Tuesdays with missing game scores and logged a second spreadsheet tab after discovering the pattern.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

The Laminated Lie: How "My Daniel. Always." Built a $26K Romance Scam

Grief turned into a vulnerability that cost one woman $26,400-and the smallest object, a perfectly dry photograph stamped "My Daniel. Always.", became the only physical clue. How did a laminated pet-care card, a Facebook grief group, and a stranger called Steven Sanders lead to a two-year scam that used a living man's image without his knowledge?

In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from a dried photograph found at Pickett Reservoir to the online messages that began in a closed Facebook group, detailing who was involved and how the deception grew-what exactly connected the laminated card, the diner handoff, and the losses Heather suffered?

Person: Heather O'Connor
Location: Dunmore, Ohio
Date found: July 2019
Amount lost: $26,400
Group: Mourning Bridge (≈300 members)

- The photograph with the words "My Daniel. Always." was found face-up in wet grass at Pickett Reservoir in the second week of July 2019 and was completely dry.
- Heather O'Connor was 38 years old in spring 2017 and worked as a senior billing coordinator in Dunmore, Ohio.
- Heather's mother, Pauline, died in April 2017 after a 14-month decline from ovarian cancer.
- Clyde, Heather's cat, was 18 years old in spring 2017 and required two insulin injections daily at 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., with a laminated care card left for neighbor Donna Pryce.
- A new Facebook member using the name Steven Sanders joined Mourning Bridge in January 2018, listed as a 51-year-old retired military engineer located in the Gulf region, and moved private messages with Heather within three weeks.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

The widow who didn't exist: how they stole $114,000 from her without entering her house

Grief made him vulnerable and a fraudster turned public records and a tagged photograph into a weapon: $114,000 vanished without a forced entry. How did one carefully crafted online persona convince a retired man to send money again and again, and what broke the pattern that finally exposed the scheme?

In this episode, we follow the timeline from a tagged library photo to the first $412 transfer and the fourteen-month romance that preceded a massive financial loss. We explain who built the fake profile, how public data was used, and the single omitted call that became crucial - who was behind the Sandra account and why did Curtis stop telling Monica?

Person: Curtis Richardson
Event: Sandra Richardson's death, September 2017
Case: Romance fraud using a fake "Sandra" profile
Perpetrator: Alan Campbell, age 38
Amount stolen: $114,000

- Curtis retired after 31 years at Deerlake, last 16 years as shift supervisor.
- Sandra Richardson died at age 59 in September 2017.
- Curtis joined a grief support group meeting first and third Tuesdays in January 2018.
- A library volunteer posted a grief group photo in March 2018; Curtis was tagged and located within 72 hours.
- The first fraudulent payment Curtis made was $412 with a 48-hour processing window.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

The Rose, the Will, and the Woman Who Stole His Last $63,000

A single artificial rose with a handwritten card from "Kathleen" became a photograph entered into court seven months after it was found - and it marked the start of $63,000 disappearing from an eighty-one-year-old man's life. How did routine kindness, handwritten notes, and routine home visits turn into a rewritten will and a woman gone four counties away?

In this episode, we tell what unfolded around Walter Grimes over twelve months: the flyers, the visits, the small paid jobs, the change in his will, and how his family and neighbors noticed the differences that eventually led to evidence. What did the people who loved him uncover about Kathleen Patterson and the paper trail she left behind?

Person: Walter Grimes
Person: Kathleen Patterson
Age: 81
Amount: $63,000
Event: Photograph of a rose entered into evidence seven months after it was found

- The rose was artificial, candy-apple red, found in the concrete drainage channel at Pinebrook Estates.
- The card on the rose was handwritten in block capitals by Walter Grimes saying "From your Kathleen, always."
- Patterson distributed printed flyers for Kline Home Services in March 2018 and knocked on Walter's door about six weeks later.
- By June 2018, Patterson was visiting Walter twice a week and performing small jobs for cash.
- Patterson presented herself as thirty-eight but was actually forty-four and had a prior fraud conviction in Indiana from 2012.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

She Said She Didn't Trust-Then Sent $31,000 and Vanished

Fear of betrayal: a 48-year-old medical coder who said four times she "did not trust easily" wired $31,000 in nine transfers after matching with a man whose profile claimed he was an offshore civil and structural engineer - then stopped leaving her house and left seven unopened wire-transfer receipts in her mailbox. What was happening inside her home between October and March?

In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the match on a dating app in October through Erin Campbell’s disappearance from public life in early March, the seven unopened envelopes found in April, and the police response that led detectives to speak with her; what happened between October and March is the central question.

Person: Erin Campbell
Age: 48
Location: Orchard Trace Road, Harperville
Amount: $31,000
Transfers: 9 separate wire transfers

- Erin lived on Orchard Trace Road for eleven years and worked from home as a medical coder.
- She stopped visiting her aunt Vera at the Clement Street care facility in early March after visiting every Thursday without exception.
- Norman Powell, a meter reader, found the mailbox jammed with seven unopened envelopes postmarked February or March.
- The seven envelopes were receipts from wire-transfer services for transactions already completed.
- Detective Gary Wagner met Erin at her house and sat in her kitchen for three hours after she returned from Columbus, Ohio, in the early hours of March 5.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

The Dry Envelope on the Bench: How a Ring Box Became a Lie

A dry, sealed envelope with a gold-foil heart was found on a soaked concrete bench after two inches of rain - yet someone had placed it there deliberately as a prop in a calculated romance con. Who staged the envelope, why was it timed to April Bailey’s routine, and what else was part of the deception?

In this episode, we present the sequence of events that connected a volunteer at Millstone Road Community Church to a man who claimed to be a civil engineer, the discovery of repeated fake photographs, and the unraveling that began with a reverse-image search. How did the staged moments and rehearsed kindness lead to multiple women being solicited for money?

Person: April Bailey
Person: Gary Graham
Person: Rachel Sullivan
Location: Holt Street culvert bench, Sycamore Flats
Event: Reverse-image search revealing stolen photos

- Two inches of rain had fallen overnight before Douglas Cole found the dry, sealed envelope on the bench.
- The envelope bore one word on the front in careful handwriting: "April."
- April Bailey was 31 years old and worked as a paralegal at a Clover Street estate firm in Dunmore.
- Gary Graham was introduced to volunteers in early January as a 54-year-old who said he was a civil engineer and primary caregiver for his mother.
- Of six photos Graham sent over seven weeks, four matched a LinkedIn profile for Steven Ault, one was unidentifiable, and one was a stock photograph.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

The Photo on the Step: How a Portrait Exposed a Romance Scam kingpin

Fear and betrayal: a portrait mailed from Knoxville to a doorstep in Claremont Heights forced a confrontation between a stolen identity and the man who paid the price-what does one photograph do to a six-year scheme? Who mailed the photo and did the fraudster ever look at it?

In this episode, we tell how a careful routine life and a simple volunteer schedule intersected with an online romance that turned into an $800 loss and a federal case, and why a mailed CVS print became the pivotal object in the investigation. What the photograph meant, and whether the intended recipient ever saw it, is the question that outlived the arrest and sentence.

Person: Jessica Roberts
Person: Dennis Campbell
Person: Aaron Voss
Amount: $800
Sentence: six-year federal sentence

- Kenneth White found a framed photograph with a sticky note reading "For Dennis. So you know who you pretended to be." on a front step while twelve minutes behind schedule.
- Jessica Roberts received an account in late October under the name Sergeant First Class Aaron Voss and moved conversations to a private messaging app by early December.
- The first money request arrived mid-January for $800 described as a daughter's school enrollment fee.
- Investigators recovered a spiral-bound notebook used across rentals in three mid-Missouri cities over four years containing scripted contact language and a full page of phrases to deflect live video calls.
- The photographs used in the scam matched a real person, Aaron Voss, a U.S. Army veteran living in Knoxville, Tennessee, employed as a building inspector with a wife and two children.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

The Golden Card: How It Won Over and Drained Jeffrey's Savings

The pull of a stranger who seemed to know him was the hook: a gold card, forty or fifty organized bank statements, and $41,200 missing from four years of careful savings - all left like a silent clue on Jeffrey's kitchen table. Who was "Gregory," why did the money move through a prepaid account and a logistics address in Atlanta to a mailbox in Clarksburg, West Virginia, and how did a man Jeffrey believed he loved erase his future plans?

In this episode, we follow the timeline of Jeffrey Reynolds from the first message on a dating platform to the discovery in his kitchen, tracing the money flow, the online exchanges, and the people who noticed when he stopped answering. What exactly did the records and contacts reveal about the path of the funds and the identity tied to that gold card?

Person: Jeffrey Reynolds
Age: 44
Amount: $41,200
Platform: ConnectTrue (first message March 2018)
Location of mailbox receiving funds: Clarksburg, West Virginia

- The gold card was propped against the kitchen window above forty or fifty chronological bank statements.
- Jeffrey had saved $41,200 over four years after a divorce to buy a house with a yard.
- He joined ConnectTrue in March 2018 and received a message within one week from "Gregory Sharp."
- Money moved through a prepaid account and a logistics address in the suburbs of Atlanta before reaching a mailbox in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
- The real Gregory Sharp, a 46-year-old HVAC subcontractor in Lexington, had his cell number written on an internal vendor contact sheet at Ashworth Regional.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

She Thought He Was Real - $6,240, A Photo, A Lie

Fear that the person you loved was never who they seemed-Brenda sent $6,240 over ten months to someone she believed was a 34-year-old logistics consultant in Singapore, but the voice she trusted was partly synthetic and the photograph that proved nothing was placed by the woman in it; who was really behind the messages and the workshop spreadsheet?

In this episode, we trace how a language-exchange match became a ten-month relationship of 341 exchanges, $6,240 in transfers, and a staged discovery at a park that raised bigger questions about identity, voice synthesis, and deliberate deception - who used Brenda's image and why?

Person: Brenda Stroud
Amount: $6,240
Exchanges: 341 logged exchanges
Saved voice messages: 43 files
Location found: Carl Ward Trail root hollow

- Brenda was 28 years old and taught English as a second language from her apartment on Ashford Lane.
- Over ten and a half months she sent a total of $6,240 to the TandemBridge user Vincent Lim SG.
- The relationship produced 341 logged exchanges and 43 voice messages that Brenda saved.
- Biscuit the three-year-old golden retriever found a ziplock bag on the Carl Ward Trail containing a printed photo, handwritten note, and printed chat logs.
- Investigators found a rural workshop in Adair County with three TandemBridge accounts, a commercial text-to-speech rig, and source recordings on an external drive.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].