This podcast details true crime cases. It contains adult themes and may contain descriptions

of violence. It is not intended for children. Listener discretion is advised. Thank you for joining me

for today's episode of Once Upon a Crime. We're in the series Fakes, Frauds, and Liars. In our last episode, we learned

about a condition known as Munchausen by Internet. This is when a person fakes an illness to receive

attention online. Munchausen by Internet is much more common than Munchausen syndrome or Munchausen

syndrome by proxy, mainly because

it's much easier to fake an illness over social media.

Many of the people being fooled never see the faker in person, and they may even be complete

strangers.

Most people use their real identities with fake symptoms and diagnoses, but to add another

layer of deception,

some create completely false identities for their online friends that they then use to spin

their illnesses, accidents, or other dramas. One of the most bizarre stories in recent times

is the Manteo Teo case. Mantaito was a linebacker for the NFL, playing first for the San Diego Chargers and now for

the New Orleans Saints.

Teo was in an online romance with a woman for two years, who he never met in person,

although he would tell family that he had.

This online girlfriend reported in 2012 that she was diagnosed with

leukemia. On September 11, 2012, she reportedly died from the disease. A few

months later, it was discovered that Teo's girlfriend had never existed. In actuality,

a male acquaintance of Teos had created the hoax. Because he said he had fallen in

love with the football player and in pretending to be a young female Stanford University student

...