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Fake Relationship Stories

Fake Relationship Stories

By: Creator at Obomedia
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Have you ever wondered if the person you're falling for online is truly who they say they are? Welcome to Stolen Love, the podcast that unmasks the shocking reality behind online dating scams and the masterminds who perpetrate them.

Stolen Love dives deep into the heartbreaking world of romance scams, revealing the deceptive tactics used by con artists to steal not just money, but trust and emotional well-being. We share compelling true stories of victims who lost everything, alongside expert insights on how these sophisticated fraudsters operate. From intricate catfishing schemes to elaborate investment scams disguised as love, we expose the red flags you need to recognize.

New episodes arrive daily, every single day of the week, Monday through Sunday, promptly at 9:00 AM. Each episode of Stolen Love offers a gripping narrative, crucial prevention tips, and a deeper understanding of the psychological manipulation involved in these devastating financial scams. Our goal is to empower you with knowledge to protect yourself and your loved ones from becoming the next target.

This podcast is for anyone navigating the complexities of online relationships, those curious about the dark side of digital connections, or anyone who has ever suspected a scammer's intentions. If you want to understand how to identify a scammer and avoid falling victim to these predators, Stolen Love is your essential guide.

Subscribe now to Stolen Love and arm yourself with the truth.© 2026 OBOMEDIA Creators
Episodes
  • The ring on the stone wall: how he returned to her house

    The ring on the stone wall: how he returned to her house
    19 Oct 2026
    The ring on the stone wall: how he returned to her house

    A navy velvet box sat on wet granite at six forty in the morning, dry only where it had rested. Inside: a diamond solitaire inscribed "Always yours, K" with a date from 2018-and a photograph of two unidentified faces. The woman who lived at that address had left Friday with her passport to meet someone. Why did the man who built that stone wall return to it in darkness, eleven years after construction, carrying a ring he claimed to have bought for her?

    In this episode, we follow Marcia Wagner's fourteen-month romance with Kenneth Griffin, a fabricated civil engineer who called every Wednesday at 11:15 PM from a location he never disclosed. We trace the Akron postmark that should have ended everything, the $26,400 in wire transfers cleared through a Delaware shell company, and the moment Vicki Jenkins discovered the face in Griffin's profile belonged to Stephen Wurl, a retired Tennessee engineer who'd never met him. What was Griffin doing on that wall in June 2019, and why did Marcia agree to meet him six months after turning him in?

    Person: Marcia Wagner
    Location: 22 Birchwood Spur, Halverton, Ohio
    Perpetrator: Kenneth Griffin (alias, using stolen identity of Stephen Wurl)
    Amount stolen: $26,400
    Event: Ring box found June 14, 2019
    Conviction: March 2020, nine years

    - Marcia created her dating profile in August 2017 and received Kenneth Griffin's message eight days later; they established Wednesday 11:15 PM calls by November 2017.
    - Between May and July 2018, Marcia sent seven wire transfers totaling $26,400 through Greystone Project Consulting LLC, a Delaware shell company with no physical address or employees.
    - A birthday card from Griffin arrived in late August 2018 postmarked Akron, Ohio-forty minutes from Halverton-while he claimed to be in Aberdeen, Scotland.
    - A reverse image search identified Griffin's profile photograph as Stephen Wurl, a retired civil engineer from Knoxville, Tennessee, whose LinkedIn profile had been dormant since 2015.
    - Griffin was arrested June 19, 2019, five days after the ring box was found; his rental closet contained a shoebox with a woman's watch, a handwritten letter, two empty ring boxes, and a laptop cataloguing seventeen active fraudulent profiles organized by victim name and amount extracted.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 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: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 min
  • The garden he built: how a man staged love for a will

    The garden he built: how a man staged love for a will
    18 Oct 2026
    The garden he built: how a man staged love for a will

    In this episode, we trace the architecture of constructed intimacy from a staged dead battery in a parking lot to a will signed in ninety minutes between choir rehearsal and a notary's office. We examine the false identity documents buried eighteen inches down in the east fence line, the $23,000 transferred in carefully timed phone calls, and the moment a meter reader noticed loose cedar planks where everything had always been kept tight.

    Person: Rebecca Watson
    Perpetrator: Gary Peterson (alias)
    Location: Four Sycamore Terrace, Harwick Hills
    Date range: June 2018 to May 2019
    Amount stolen: $23,000
    Verdic: Guilty on four counts; 14 years

    - Gary Peterson staged a dead battery in a parking lot in June 2018, paying a tow truck driver $60 to appear as a favor for a friend.
    - He spent eleven Saturdays in Rebecca's garden, arriving with gloves already on after she had mentioned the garden once in passing.
    - Rebecca changed beneficiaries on two financial accounts in January 2019 with Gary in the house the night before paperwork was filed.
    - The will was signed at 9:15 p.m. on April 9, 2019, twenty-two minutes after Rebecca left choir rehearsal at 8:45 p.m., naming Gary Peterson sole beneficiary.
    - Investigators found two sets of identity documents buried eighteen inches down in a waterproof bag near the east fence line, with Gary's fingerprints on the bag interior and his DNA on the zipper.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 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: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 min
  • The watch in the church: how they built Glenn Lane

    The watch in the church: how they built Glenn Lane
    17 Oct 2026
    The watch in the church: how they built Glenn Lane

    A padded envelope sat in a church lost-and-found box for weeks before anyone opened it-inside, a Seiko watch with a scratched crystal and a handwritten note signed "G." It was never meant to arrive. Lauren Christensen believed she was building a relationship with a structural engineer named Glenn Lane over eight months of messages and calls. But the photographs were stolen, the voice belonged to a stranger, and the crises were scripted.

    In this episode, we trace how a three-person operation in suburban Atlanta manufactured trust across three wire transfers totaling nine thousand seven hundred dollars, using a database of recycled scripts and prop kits mailed to freight forwarders. We follow the moment a social media manager looked at a photograph a beat too long, the DNA evidence found in a sealed envelope that connected this case to a victim two years earlier, and the question of how many other targets remain in the laptop archive that investigators recovered.

    Person: Lauren Christensen
    Location: Harlow, Indiana
    Perpetrator: Marcus Webb, Todd Mercer
    Amount stolen: $9,700
    Event: Romance scam via stolen identity, February-April 2022
    Platform: Horizon dating app

    - Lauren matched with a profile named Glenn Lane on the Horizon dating app in early February 2022, after eight months of scrolling.
    - The photographs used in Glenn Lane's profile were taken directly from the real Glenn Lane's public Instagram account and Ohio Department of Transportation contractor listing.
    - Lauren wired three transfers between mid-March and early April 2022: $3,000 for a bond filing fee, $4,500 for a hotel deposit, and $2,200 for an injured worker's hospital bill.
    - Crystal O'Connor, a social media manager and casual acquaintance of Lauren's, ran a reverse image search on Glenn's photograph and found the real Glenn Lane's four-year Instagram history within seconds.
    - Marcus Webb, the logistics coordinator arrested April 21, 2022, had mailed a Seiko watch with a scratched crystal and a handwritten note to a church freight-forwarding address in Harlow, following a prop kit protocol he had used on at least one prior victim, Sandra Poole in Knoxville, in 2020.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 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: business@obomedia.com.
    Show more Show less
    23 min
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