BOSTON -- We make connections online every day. But when we're not face to face, how can you be sure the person on the other end is really who they say they are?

NewsCenter 5's Kelley Tuthill reported Thursday that the isolation of chasing around her triplet toddlers led Michelle Wehr, of Marshfield, to Triplet Connection, an online community of parents with multiples.

"They can be cheerleaders and tell you, 'you can do it. Tough day? You'll get through it.' Everyone's there to lend support," Wehr said.

One mother online from Baton Rouge really tugged at Wehr's heartstrings. "Mandie Clark" said she was pregnant with triplets. She posted adorable pictures of the newborns online. Then, her e-mails became desperate, claiming she and her husband were almost broke.

"They were going to turn the water off tomorrow if I don't pay them. I do not know what we are going to do," Mandie Clark posted online.

"You're heart just broke for this poor person," Wehr said.

She was one of many parents from all over the country who sent baby supplies, strollers and food. Some even sent money.

"Somebody offered to pay her utility bill and have her power turned on and also put her up in a hotel until it was turned back on," Wehr said.

Then Mandie's story began to unravel. She claimed she was pregnant with twins and offered them up for adoption to two different families. That led to confrontations on the Web, with other moms demanding to know if Mandie Clark ever existed and if she was ever pregnant.

"The best thing about the Internet is you can shop at home wearing your pajamas. While that's great, it also means that fraud is that much easier because they can do it in their pajamas at home in their kitchen," Boston University Professor James McQuivey said.

"Can we expect police are going to step in and help us?" Tuthill said.

"Small scams online -- it's going to be hard to get anyone interested. It's got to be for thousands or maybe millions of dollars," McQuivey said.

That's because it's so prevalent, leaving the rest of us to police the Internet ourselves. In fact, Team 5 found Mandie at the top of a long list called multiple births fakers.

It also alleges she even tried to sell some of the gifts she received on eBay.

The Baton Rouge home where Michelle and others sent donations to Mandie was vacant when Team 5 checked last month. The landlord wouldn't talk, but Team 5 uncovered evidence that the man Mandie claimed was her husband, Matthew Sykes, lived at the home.

The only other tenant listed was Emily Sykes -- more evidence that Mandie likely never existed and neither did the triplets. Last month, Mandie finally confessed online, claiming the babies were lost in utero.

"It's that false intimacy that the Internet presents. It could be genuine, but you don't know that," McQuivey said.

"To use innocent children and to take peoples' pictures and post them saying they are your children, who in a million years could be that deceitful?" Wehr said.

The moderators of the Triplet Connection admitted to Team 5 that fakers have infiltrated the site before. But there's still no warning on the site and no plans to safeguard it in the future.

Resources

Statement: Response From Triplet Connection

Web: Fight Identity Theft

Web: On Guard Online

Web: Cyber Angels