Short of murdering someone, I’m trying to think of a more vile, undignified crime than using the grief of the victims of the biggest single tragedy in American history for your own self-serving greed.
But the depths some people will plummet to never ceases to amaze me.
The latest glimpse of the devil reincarnated is a peek into the life of Patricia Wutaan, a 55-year-old care worker who wrote emotional scripts to trick lonely men into coughing up thousands of dollars on dating websites. Big sellers included elaborate sob stories of the financial struggles that stemmed from loved ones dying in the 9/11 Twin Tower attacks.
According to Mirror, one script read:
“I am a widow. Lost my husband to 9/11 terror attacks in New York.
“He made it out of the collapsed building but he later died because of heavy dust and smoke and he was asthmatic.”
And another:
“I’ve not been in a relationship since demise of late husband. I am in London to meet family attorney of late husband to negotiate on how to clear the identified assets he left me.
“He left me a vague will with some conditions to meet before I could access the assets and cash he left me in his will.
“I must be able to prove to the family attorney that I have moved on with my life and show I am engaged with someone else.”
Some scripts were even accompanied by notes and instructions for fraudster-to-be saying, “Stay calm and moody until you get his final word,” “let him do most of the talking, be sad and worried about taking care of bills for rest of the month,” and “when he asks what he can do to help ask him for $2000 – $3000.”
Wutaan went even further in this full-blown operation by sending con-artists fraudulent documents including photocopies of fake passports and drivers’ licences to use against lonely men.
When police searched her home, officers found an “Aladdin’s cave of fraudsters’ scripts and false IDs,” according to News Shopper.
Mirror reports that Wutaan was sentenced to two years jail after being found guilty two counts of possession of articles for use in fraud and also found guilty of three counts of money laundering, linking to the $100,000 fraud of a Swiss man.
I vote death sentence.
[h/t Mirror]