Reports :

I was approached online by a man who introduced himself as Michael O Harwich. He claimed to be from North Carolina, and he described himself as a widower with two daughters. According to what he told me, he was 65 years old and working on an oil rig in Belgium. He also said that he planned to retire the following year and that he was looking forward to finally settling down and finding someone to share the rest of his life with. His story sounded very emotional and carefully crafted, which at first made him seem sincere and believable.
From the beginning, he presented himself as a kind, caring, and affectionate man. He spoke about wanting companionship and said he had been lonely since the passing of his wife. He claimed that his daughters were grown and supportive of him finding love again. He often talked about the future and how he hoped to meet someone who would accept him and build a peaceful life together once he retired. His messages were filled with compliments and affectionate words, and he tried very quickly to create an emotional connection.

Within a short time, he began professing his love for me. Even though we had only been communicating for a few weeks, he spoke as if we already had a deep relationship. He would say that he felt a strong bond with me and that he believed fate had brought us together. He often described how happy he would be when his contract ended and he could finally meet me in person. These kinds of statements seemed rushed and unrealistic, which made me start questioning his intentions.

He also shared several photos of himself, presenting the image of a handsome and confident man. The photos appeared professional and attractive, which made the profile even more convincing at first glance. However, something about the situation still felt suspicious to me. The story about working on an oil rig overseas, combined with his quick emotional attachment, matched many of the warning signs I had heard about regarding romance scams.

As I suspected, after about three weeks of communication he finally asked me for money. He told me he was having difficulty maintaining his internet connection on the oil rig and said he needed help so we could continue talking. Specifically, he asked me to buy him a **Apple gift card worth $100 and send him the code so he could keep his internet service active. According to him, this was the only way we could continue texting each other. This request immediately confirmed my concerns.

I told him clearly that I did not have any money and that I could not help him. Despite this, he continued asking repeatedly and tried to pressure me. He would not accept my answer and kept messaging me, insisting that it was only a small favor and that people who love each other help one another. His persistence made the situation even more suspicious and uncomfortable.

Because of this behavior, I decided to block him and report his account on Facebook. Shortly afterward, the account he had been using was removed from the platform. Unfortunately, that was not the end of the situation. After some time, he created another Facebook profile and somehow managed to find me again.

He sent another friend request and attempted to contact me again through messages. I did not accept the request, but he was still able to send me messages. Once again, I immediately blocked him and reported the account. Not long after, that profile was also removed.

Based on this experience, I strongly believe this individual is repeatedly creating fake profiles in order to target people on social media. The pattern of behavior?creating emotional connections quickly, claiming to work overseas, and eventually asking for gift cards or money?is very typical of romance scammers. The photographs he used appear to belong to someone else as well. After performing a reverse image search, I discovered that the same pictures appear in many different places online, which suggests that they have been stolen and reused in multiple scam profiles.

Even though the photos show an attractive and convincing ind