Imposter targeted dead troops' families
A MAN pretending to be a British Royal Marine wounded in Afghanistan conned the families of dozens of British soldiers killed in action, The Sun said today. The unidentified imposter used Facebook to target heroes' widows and mothers, befriending them and winning their trust and sympathy on the social networking site over a period of three months.
The scam began when he accessed a British Forces charity web page as "Max Beach", a rip-off of a genuine British Marine, Max Beacham.
He claimed to have undergone specialist hospital treatment and told one mother he had been beside her soldier son as he died.
His tale finally unravelled tonight, after he invented his own death, triggering a flood of sad tributes from well wishers.
The motive for the scam was unclear, with speculation that the bluffer was a pervert who enjoyed preying on grieving women or that he planned to con them out of cash.
Among those who sent messages of support to the fake soldier was Carol Jones, whose son Sergeant John Jones was killed by a bomb in Iraq in 2005.
She said: "I feel so foolish. I cared for a Marine I believed was injured and had been left depressed and suicidal.
"When I heard he'd died it was like losing one of ours. I cried all day and night for a man who never existed."
Horrified Ministry of Defence officials confirmed "no such person" had ever served in the Royal Marines.
The scam began when he accessed a British Forces charity web page as "Max Beach", a rip-off of a genuine British Marine, Max Beacham.
He claimed to have undergone specialist hospital treatment and told one mother he had been beside her soldier son as he died.
His tale finally unravelled tonight, after he invented his own death, triggering a flood of sad tributes from well wishers.
The motive for the scam was unclear, with speculation that the bluffer was a pervert who enjoyed preying on grieving women or that he planned to con them out of cash.
Among those who sent messages of support to the fake soldier was Carol Jones, whose son Sergeant John Jones was killed by a bomb in Iraq in 2005.
She said: "I feel so foolish. I cared for a Marine I believed was injured and had been left depressed and suicidal.
"When I heard he'd died it was like losing one of ours. I cried all day and night for a man who never existed."
Horrified Ministry of Defence officials confirmed "no such person" had ever served in the Royal Marines.
