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Man Admits To Swindling Women On Dating Websites While Posing As Oil Tycoon

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A man admitted in court Tuesday to swindling hundreds of thousands of dollars from women by posing as an oil tycoon on various dating websites.

John Edward Taylor, 47, pleaded guilty Tuesday to wire fraud and sending threatening communications in connection with the seven-year scheme.

Taylor, who also used Jay Taylor and Josie Reeser, allegedly stole or tried to steal money, credit and personal information from more than a dozen women in New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Atlanta, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

Prosecutors said Taylor contacted victims using online dating and networking sites such as Match.com, eHarmony, Craigslist, and Seeking Arrangement. He introduced himself as "Jay" and claimed to be a millionaire businessman with oil and land interests in North Dakota, prosecutors said.

In some instances, Taylor pretended to be interested in having the victims work on a new business he purported to be developing, while in others, he pretended to want to date them, prosecutors said. To most victims, he sought both a personal and professional relationship, prosecutors said.

Using false pretenses, Taylor got the victims' personal identifying information – often including dates of birth, addresses, and bank and credit card numbers, prosecutors said.

Taylor allegedly went on to transfer funds, buy items, and open new accounts with the victims' information, prosecutors alleged. He either opened the accounts without authorization or told the victims they were business accounts – when in fact they were accounts with the victims' names that he alone controlled, prosecutors said.

Over a period of months, victims would find thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges and transfers in their existing accounts, receive bills for accounts they never opened, or learn that their existing accounts had been closed due to delinquency, prosecutors said.

Multiple victims confronted Taylor, and he responded to some of them with insults, prosecutors said. In other instances, he promised to repay the victims – and at least once tried to do so using funds from another victim, prosecutors said.

Several times, Taylor also threatened to release sexually explicit photos of the victims he had extracted from them to their employers if they tried to collect their debts, prosecutors said.

Taylor's fraud totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses, prosecutors said.

Taylor faces up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 4.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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