Ladies....Would You Date This Man?
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WNBC Reporter Harry Cicma’s pictures were used in a scam on a dating website.
A Massachusetts woman thought she had met the perfect man on the website Match.com.
“He says, 'I’m doing good, but doing better now that you are here, my love,'” she said as she read one of his texts.
The man told her his name was Sergeant Hill, a soldier stationed in Kabul, and she believed him. He sent her pictures periodically. Him in uniform, holding an American flag; a picture of him chilling in the pool.
She thought she was falling in love with a military man who had the kindest and sweetest words for her. But he raised her suspicion when he asked for a sum of money.
“I asked, 'What do you need money for? You work in the military, you should be getting paid,'" she recalled.
It was at that point that Eckenreiter asked herself, "What am I doing?”
Eckenreiter did a reverse search of Sergeant Hill’s picture online.
“What starts popping up is he’s a news correspondent, he’s a former tennis player,” Eckenreiter recalled. “I said, 'Oh my, this guy is right here in New York.'”
Eckenreiter contacted NBC New York because the picture of her sergeant was actually WNBC’s Cicma, who reports on sports.
“I thought it was really important for [Cicma] to know, because it didn’t just affect me. It was affecting him too now," she said.
Cicma had no idea his images were being used this way.
“To think that they actually took my picture, spent probably hours in Photoshop, taking my head, putting it on, that’s creepy,” Cicma said when the I-Team showed him his face on a military man’s body.
Cicma says he has never been in the military and has never even worn a soldier’s uniform as a costume. He also does not know Eckenreiter.
“To know that she’s struggling, and that someone was using my picture... to falsely make her feel better and then they were trying to get money, it made me feel absolutely terrible,” Cicma said.
Cyber experts say if there is one thing you should absolutely avoid, never send money to anyone you don't know.
Gee….thanks captain obvious.
H/T WNBC
