nanowrimo_lj | (no subject) (Reply)

I'm looking for some information, and I really hope you folks can help....

Last year (I think), a NaNoWriMo participant (someone with "smurf" in their username?) faked her own death over New Years Eve (that would be January 2004). I swear, I remember this happening, but the person who I thought knew about it can't recall. She'd been active in the Geezers community at NaNo, and was well known and liked.

For my NaNo 2005 novel, I'm working on ideas relating to emotional fraud on the Internet (I swear, the idea is cooler than it sounds at first glance).

Does anyone here remember this case, and if so, can you either tell me about it, or point me to some relevant search clues or posts? I feel like maybe I imagined the whole thing, and yet, I'm 100% sure it really happened!

Thanks, and my apologies if it opens up bad cans of worms for anyone.

Edit: I found her username: Ebola Smurf. If you remember her, let me know. Otherwise, at least I have a starting point. And for those who are kindly pointing me to other scams, thank you. I'm working on this one at the moment, but I have a minimum of thirteen interwoven stories to write, and all the fodder I can get will be beneficial to my quest!