WSVN — She wanted a boyfriend, so she signed on to a dating website. That’s when she met a man who was handsome and told her he loved her. What could go wrong? Patrick Fraser did a little digging and discovered it was all a “Web of Lies.”
Tawana was going through a divorce.
Tawana Lacroix: “I was at a vulnerable state at the time.”
Then she went on a dating site and saw this face…
Ramon Witherspoon: “I’ve done movies. I’ve done a movie called ‘Briana.’ It’s a low-budget movie.”
Tawana, sitting in her home in Louisiana, was impressed.
Tawana Lacroix: “I’m like, ‘Damn! He’s fine.” (laughs)
Then Tawana and the guy who called himself “Bradley Cooper” started a relationship online.
Tawana Lacroix: “I actually fell in love with him. He was the perfect gentleman that any woman would want.”
For months they emailed, talked on the phone and texted.
Ramon Witherspoon: “They had really intimate conversations. I’m talking about to the point that she was sending him pornographic pictures of herself.”
Then “Bradley Cooper” sent Tawana a picture of his son, who he said was sick. He asked Tawana for $500 to take him to the doctor in Ghana, where he said he has been sent to work.
She sent it.
When he asked for more money, she sent it.
Tawana Lacroix: “All together with the phone, it was about $5,000.”
A few months into the relationship, Tawana told “Bradley” she wanted to come see him at his home in Arizona. He told her he was out of the country working again. When she wanted to Skype with him, he said his computer was broken.
So Tawana decided to do a little digging on the new love of her life.
Tawana Lacroix: “I took the pictures of him and I did a Google search. My Google search came back that the pictures belonged to someone named Ramon Witherspoon.”
She got a phone number for the guy with this face. It was not her boyfriend “Bradley” from Arizona. Turns out it was Ramon Witherspoon, a father in Fort Lauderdale.
Ramon Witherspoon: “And I’m, like, I’m in disbelief. He’s stolen, like 20, 30 images of me having fun with my family.”
Ramon told Tawana the pictures “Bradley” used were taken from Ramon’s Facebook page.
Ramon Witherspoon: “I’ve seen my picture at least three scam sites, and that’s not me. People are saying I’m a fraud, I frauded them out of money. I’ve lied to them.”
Tawana Lacroix: “I feel hurt, I feel hurt. I cried. Like I told him, ‘You used me.’”
Tawana then called her so-called boyfriend and told him she knew he was a liar, knew he lived in Ghana and she was going to call the police. He laughed at her and finally told the truth.
Tawana Lacroix: “‘I’m from another country. I can’t be touched.’ And I did some research on that, and he was correct. I can do nothing about it.”
Tawana was a victim. Ramon was a victim, too.
Ramon Witherspoon: “My picture is everywhere, even where I don’t want it to be.”
Ramon hopes the crook disappears from his life. As for Tawana, she still wants to meet him … once.
Tawana Lacroix: “To be real with you, if I would see this man, I’d probably beat the living [expletive] out of him!”
The guy from Ghana will probably stay online conning women — and men — but if he knows what’s good for him, he’ll stay out of Tawana’s way. I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
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