Ohio Couple Implicated In Dating Service Scam
August 6th, 2010 - 6:56 pm ICT by Pen Men At WorkAugust 6, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): A couple from Ohio has been found to be involved in a dating service scam. The couple has been accused of extorting money from at least seven persons across the country. They managed to convince the victims that they were guilty of forwarding inappropriate photographs and content to the mobile phone belonging to their 11 year old child.
They would then demand money for not reporting the matter to the police.
43 year old Kevin Zunk and Tonya Blaze, 40 have already made over $10,000 by contacting people through the dating service phone. The Toledo based couple made its first court appearance on Wednesday.
The investigators working on the case revealed that the couple usually persuaded the victim to send sexually explicit photographs and messages to a particular phone number. The attorney for Zunk declined to comment on this issue while a request for comment is currently lying with the defender of Blaze.
It is also not clear whether the couple really has an 11 year old child. They told the victims about the child receiving the messages when they threatened to go to the police but the gender of the child differed from victim to victim. Some of them also said that they received calls from persons who posed as FBI agents or the Sheriff’s deputy. They expressed their intention of pressing charges, stated the victims.
One of the victims residing in Florida went straight to the authorities after the couple extorted $2485 from him. He told the law enforcement officers that he had sent 2 nude pictures to the number given after Zunk, whom he contacted through a dating site, convinced him of swapping photographs. The extortionist called him up soon after and said that the photos had been received by his 11 year old daughter which had upset his wife as well. He wanted money to change the phone number and for the costs of the court. Later on, the Florida victim found himself being asked for more and more money with Zunk threatening to tell it all to his boss.
The other victims were from Indiana, Missouri and Illinois tells the affidavit.
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