You know what it feels like when you’re in love – that heady rush of emotions when the passion is new and exciting. You feel like you’re the best version of yourself because of them, and that the person you love can do no wrong. You have a sense of validation knowing that someone loves you back. It might build slowly or come all in a rush, but once you feel it, you won’t let anything stop you from being with that person.

Even if you never meet them in real life.

Even if they don’t actually exist.

Romance scammers will take advantage of emotions to get money from their victims, and according to Corporal Kyle Cruise of the Economic Crimes Unit, too many people are willing to give away their money for the sake of fake love. “We had one lady who had given more than $100,000. She didn’t report it, but someone who was concerned about her wellbeing let us know. She was of sound mind, in her 50s, and even after we talked to her and explained that this was a scam, she still wanted to believe the person was real. That’s how convincing some of these people are. She’s been talking to this person for a year and was convinced it was true love.”

In fact, a deputy with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) has had his identity stolen hundreds of times over many years. Scammers have used Deputy Luis Hernandez’ photos, videos, name, and even his personal information to create fake identities and trick victims.

“It started about eight years ago,” he said. A woman tracked him down and said she sent thousands of dollars to a person claiming to be him. Once he started researching the problem he found it was much bigger than he could have imagined. “I found dozens and dozens… and quickly it became hundreds of different profiles, all using my photos and videos.” After that it snowballed. Just in the last year he’s reported 794 fake accounts, all using his photos, videos, and personal information.

Deputy Hernandez is as much a victim as the women who have fallen for the scammers. Armed with his name and photos, women who think they have a relationship have tracked down the real Deputy Hernandez at previous jobs and harassed his bosses, looking for information. What a scammer does can reflect on Deputy Hernandez. “Two separate ladies reached out from Europe, thinking that I was talking with their 12 year old daughters.” The scammers are not only getting money from women, but can tarnish Deputy Hernndez’ reputation.

Recently, a victim tracked her scammer back to the real Deputy Hernandez, and contacted PCSO. “We got a report from a woman who told us that they thought one of our deputies was scamming them,” said Economic Crimes Sergeant Chase Berger. “When we looked into it we found out that Deputy Hernandez has been dealing with being the victim of identity fraud for a very long time.”

Sergeant Berger said that many people have lost money to fake profiles that stole Deputy Hernandez’ information. “He’s a pretty popular profile to steal.”

Someone perpetrating a romance scam can put weeks or months into building a relationship with the victim. Many will impersonate or create fake profiles of members of the military, because that both gives the fake persona an aura of honor and respectability, and also an excuse why they are out of the country and need the victim to handle money matters for them. Deputy Hernandez served in the Marine Corps and has a compelling backstory that a scammer could use to gain interest and sympathy.

“The scammer will build expectations about a life together,” Sergeant Berger said. They’ll go to great lengths to make the victim believe they love them – even sending them flowers, candy, or pizza. Then, once trust is established, they’ll ask for money, using all kinds of excuses – a business opportunity to secure their future together, a visa problem preventing them from crossing a border.

The feelings these victims have are real, even if the object of their affection is a mock-up of stolen parts. Even when victims track down the real Deputy Hernandez and he tells them they’ve been scammed, some women try to turn their attention to the real him, still imagining they have a relationship. “I tell them it’s not me, and they won’t let go. They say I feel like I know you, we have a connection.”

Even if a victim is cautious enough not to send them money, a scammer may make use of them for other illicit business. “They’ll use them as mules to transport money they got from other victims or other illegal activities,” Sergeant Berger said. “Or they’ll use them to clean dirty money.” In one recent case a victim was convinced by the person she thought she loved to pick up cash and use it to buy a car, then deliver that car to someone, over and over again.

“She funneled more than $1 million through her bank account – all money from other victims of scams.” When they told her it was a scam, she didn’t believe it. The traffic with her bank was so much that Homeland Security got involved.” Even then, the victim didn’t want to stop because she didn’t believe the person she loved could be taking advantage of her. “She was told stop, or she’d be charged. But she was so in love with the person she couldn’t see past it. There’s a lot of emotion involved which makes our job hard.”

To avoid becoming a victim of a romance scam, be wary of anyone who approaches you out of the blue on social media. When you get that friend request from a cute deputy or a widowed Marine Corps colonel, take the time to do a little research. Do you have any friends in common? If so, ask them if they know the person in real life. Is the profile less than a year old? Do they only have a few photos? Do they claim to have a college degree or a professional job but their writing is riddled with errors? These are some signs of a fake profile.

Another trick is to do a reverse image search to see if they stole their photo from an actual person. You can upload a dating app photo and then let Google search for any other place where that image appears on the internet. That might reveal that the profile photo a scammer is using is the same one used in multiple other fake profiles, like what has been plaguing Deputy Hernandez for years. On the Google search page, click the Search by Image icon in the search bar. Then upload or drag and drop an image to start your search. If the supposedly authentic photo is also used in someone else’s profile, you may be the target of a scammer.

Deputy Hernandez hopes that anyone who is approached by scammers using his name or image will see this article, or the warnings he posts on his real social media account, and keep themselves and their money safe. For a while he fought back by making his social media private, but there was so much out there that it didn’t reduce the number of scammers. None of the people impersonating Deputy Hernandez on social media and dating apps have been caught yet. He thinks they’re based in other countries, and he worries that their methods are getting more sophisticated. Thanks to artificial intelligence, scammers can generate new images or even mimic his voice after taking samples from short video clips.

Deputy Hernandez has some simple advice to help keep people from being tricked by a romance scam. “If you haven’t met that person in real life, don’t send them money.”



Sergeant Berger echoes that advice. “It seems simple enough, but that’s exactly what the problem is. People are so willing, so trusting of these people they’ve created relationships with online, that they just give their lives away.”

On Christmas Eve, a family squabble turned to violence that ended with a 14-year-old fatally shooting his sister, then being shot in turn by his 15-year-old brother. Both teens were known to always carry guns.

Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said the number of guns in the hands of teens in Pinellas County is unprecedented. “This proliferation of guns on the street, and guns in the hands of these kids, is the worst I’ve ever seen it.” It's so commonplace that a kid can buy a gun on the street for $50, usually from another juvenile who stole it from an unsecured vehicle. Though adults face strict minimum mandatory sentencing for crimes involving guns, most juvenile offenders get off with light penalties that may involve only the briefest periods of incarceration.

“I really think that we need tougher laws to deal with these kids,” Sheriff Gualtieri said. “They are not getting the consequences they should get that keep them from doing it again and again and again, or deter others from doing it.”

Take the Christmas Eve shooting, for example. The 14-year-old who killed his sister has arrests dating back to when he was 12, including being a minor in possession of a gun, grand theft auto, auto burglary, loitering and prowling, disorderly conduct, battery on a school official, and battery on a law enforcement officer. Despite the length of his rap sheet and the severity of the charges, the consequences were almost nil.

“What does he get? Probation.” Right now, being a minor in possession of a firearm is only a misdemeanor. Sheriff Gualtieri thinks that should change. “I really hope the Florida Legislature in the upcoming legislative session will get serious about it and will pass legislation that will hold these kids accountable, and help us to slow this down. Because if we don’t slow it down, we’ve got a big problem.”

Senate Bill 1274 proposes consequences with teeth – measures that the sheriff hopes will deter juvenile gun violations and more severely punish those who do break the law. The bill proposes several changes, foremost among them is making the charge of being a minor in possession of a firearm a felony. Further, it would mandate that the minor shall be held in a secure detention facility for five days. Currently, a detention period is not mandatory. For a second offense, the minor would serve 21 days. A third offense would mean the minor was officially adjudicated delinquent, and would be committed to a residential program. The bill would also include enhanced community service requirements, and extended driver's license revocation.

This is all for simply being found in possession of a firearm. Committing a crime such as armed burglary or assault with a deadly weapon while using that firearm would of course have more severe consequences, with detention periods before adjudication extended based on an assessment of whether the minor presents a risk to public safety or a danger to the community, and the possibility of increased time at a residential facility. But increasing the penalties for simply having a firearm would make sure juveniles are faced with a more realistic outcome of their poor decisions from the very first offense. Diversion programs for youthful mistakes like spraying graffiti or shoplifting might make sense, but gun violations are on another level. They lead to serious crimes and need to be nipped in the bud.

The proposed bill also increases the consequences for minors on probation for a gun-related charge who violate the terms of their probation. Juveniles who are arrested for certain electronic monitoring or supervised release violations would be held in secure detention up to 21 days to allow the state attorney to review the violation. Preservation of public safety could warrant an additional 21 days.

“Enough of this slap on the wrist,” said Sheriff Gualtieri. We want to protect our youth, educate them, mentor them, and give them second chances, but if they've gone as far as gun violations they need to be held accountable for their actions. “Now they say oh, well, he’s only 14, he really doesn’t understand what’s going on, we’ll just give him probation. It’s not working. If you do what you’ve always done you’re going to get what you’ve always got. It needs to change. The laws need to change.”

If they don't, we'll have more preventable tragedies like the one that happened Christmas Eve. SB 1274, up for consideration in the current legislative session, could bring a change to the way kids committing gun crimes are treated. “We need to get serious; we need to get tough, and these kids need to get locked up. Send a message.”