He Loved an Architect That Didn't Exist - The Night He Found Out

He Loved an Architect That Didn't Exist - The Night He Found Out He fell in love with a persona built from glass-and-steel renderings and a floor plan taped above a sink, and by the time he realized the man never existed he had wired $2,340 to strangers. The smell of burned coffee, an open window, and four words in red marker - THIS IS NOT HIM - point to a deception that unfolded entirely in text; who designed the image that convinced him, and why did it take a printed rendering for the truth to arrive? In this episode, you will hear how a twenty-six-year-old man living in a house he inherited slowly became involved with an online profile presented as a forty-one-year-old architect, how the relationship moved from architecture talk to financial favors, and how a refunded payment and a taped printout led to a final, revealing moment. What did those four words mean to the people who found them? Person: Kent Baker Age: 26 Location: 412 Tanner Court, Westhaven Terrace, Dillard, Ohio Amount sent: $2,340 Number of transactions: 4 - The morning Leon Price noticed the house incident was a Thursday in September 2019. - Kent inherited the house after his grandmother died in 2017. - Kent worked as a bookkeeper at Hartwick & Sons and held an associate's degree from Winthrop Community College. - The online profile "James Young" claimed to be a 41-year-old architect working in Lagos and deaf, communicating entirely via text. - Kent was the eighth-largest contributor among twelve active targets who sent money. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].