Judy Mezzatesta said she started receiving messages from strange men when she changed her relationship status on Facebook to “Separated” two years ago. However, the Portland, Oregon, woman was savvy enough about Facebook not to accept any requests. That’s why she was immediately suspicious when a man contacted her claiming to be a soldier in need of money—and her affection.

The man, claiming to be Master Sergeant Troy D. Turn, told her a story about how his wife died and he needed money to get out of the army. Hew also told her that he loved and her and wanted to marry her shortly after they began communicating. Obviously suspicious, Messatesta did some research on the man and found many fake profiles using the same name and pictures.

The real man, Troy D. Turner, says that his identity has been used for years by scam artists on the site, including details about his military past and even pictures of his children.

However, despite the mental anguish the scam has caused him, there’s a happy twist to the story: Mezzatesta and Turner eventually connected in real life, and are now engaged to be married.

“I just hate to think how much this person has gotten from using my picture,” Turner said. “It’s like going into your house and finding everything has been taken. They do that with your emotions… As much as I hate this guy, I also got to thank him too for introducing my future wife to me.”