What started with a simple like on a TikTok post turned into a years-long lie.

A Stark County man in his 70s began chatting with who he thought was a woman in need.

"A bad actor forged a relationship with this gentleman, promising a romantic relationship with him," said Major Rick Stauffer of the Stark County Sheriff's Office.

Stauffer told Good Morning Cleveland anchor Mike Brookbank that the man sent the woman 200 gift cards worth $60,000 over a five-year period.

The man told investigators he and the woman made plans to live together.

"At one point, he believed that there was a U-Haul being sent to his house to pick up his belongings so they could move in together," said Stauffer. "But yet he had never met her face to face."

The woman never showed up, and that's when the man knew h

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