A woman from Florida has been charged with persuading a disabled man to believe she was “trapped in a domestic violence relationship” and required financial aid to escape, allegedly deceiving him out of more than $2,000.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office has stated that Gianna Abel-Venezia was arrested following accusations of defrauding a man she met online. She now faces a felony charge of fraud-swindle.
According to the police department’s Facebook post on Wednesday, May 20, “Gianna connected with the victim on Facebook Dating and began communicating with him via phone. She claimed to be trapped in a domestic violence relationship and in need of money to escape. To make her story believable, she sent photos depicting injuries. Sympathizing with her situation, the victim sent money.”
The authorities reported that Abel-Venezia, 19, continued to deceive the victim, ultimately persuading him to send her over $2,000.
When the victim realized he had been deceived and confronted Gianna, she admitted to only being interested in money and exploiting his disability. She revealed she had been using this tactic since 2025, stating, “there ain’t nun that can happen.”
After her arrest, Abel-Venezia reportedly insisted she shouldn’t face penalties, asserting that if someone is “dumb enough” to send money, it’s their responsibility.
Despite this, Abel-Venezia acknowledged that her actions were “technically wrong” and requested that a detective apologize to the victim on her behalf. “What she didn’t expect was learning that scamming people out of money is, in fact, illegal,” the department continued.
Authorities believe there may be additional victims who were deceived by Abel-Venezia with claims of “domestic violence” or “sex trafficking.”
The department concluded by encouraging anyone who believes they may have been scammed by Abel-Venezia to reach out to Detective Bradish at 352-402-6022.
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It remains unclear whether Abel-Venezia has entered a plea or sought legal counsel following her arrest.
After the police department posted on Facebook, many people expressed sympathy for the victim in the comments. “People have good hearts, and it’s shameful what she has done and seems not to care,” one person remarked.
Another commenter noted the prevalence of such scams, saying, “I’m just here to say it’s more common than people realize. I was scammed by a young man that asked me for money for various reasons. Thanks to my friends and family, I got out of that relationship before I went broke.”
