A Russian couple living in the US have been charged with illegally using the personal information of an American citizen living in Ireland, who says he learned of the alleged scam through Facebook.
A criminal complaint charges the couple, whose true names are not known to police, with identity theft, bank fraud and other crimes.
The man is held until a bail hearing next week. His wife was released on bail.
Police began investigating last summer when Fionghal Solomon MacEoghan, an American citizen living in Dublin, reported that a Russian couple from Warwick, Rhode Island, had been using his personal information.
He said he grew suspicious after he started communicating with a woman with the same surname on Facebook. She told him her husband had the same unusual name.