The Life and Death of Jesse James
Josh Olsson relates a fascinating tale of internet deception in the LA Weekly.
"Audrey, this is Harlan Ellison. It's imperative that I talk to you and Tania as soon as possible about Josh. I'm very worried. Tania's on her way to your house right now, and I'd like the two of you to come here."
Audrey asks if she can bring her friend Janna, and Harlan says no.
Audrey asks if she can bring her new puppy, and Harlan says no. You don't argue with Harlan Ellison; she says yes.
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A very human tale.
I would question the link the author makes to a Internet dating culture, though. Such a deception could just as easily be done with letters or the telephone in earlier ages (and has been), and it would even be harder to expose over sufficient distance. Here, though, the net's enhanced research capabilities eventually win out over an identity invented online.
That's right -- telegraphy was one of the few fields that admitted women, and there were stories of telegraph operators creating false identities in much the same manner that this story describes.
The first time I taught a news writing course at my current job was in the fall of 2003... at that time, it was a regular experience, almost weekly, that some local TV news or weekly small-town paper would publish a news item that a quick Google search easily exposed as a hoax. Once a network released the tape to its affiliates, or once the Associated Press picked up on the small town paper, you'd see the same hoax repeated all over the place. Things like "Blonds will die out in 200 years" or the ranch where men could shoot naked women with paintball guns, In recent years, editors seem to have included a quick Google search as a routine part of the review process, so those kinds of hoaxes are far less common. Still, when the goal is not publicity or web traffic or money, but some strange emotional need, people will act in strange ways.