Marwan Alshehhi bears a striking resemblance to Mena, who until earlier this year had been toiling in anonymity at a New Jersey gas station, trying to make enough money to bring his family here from Egypt.

Mena was never taken into custody, but says he was fired from his job as a welder, and the gas station where he used to work is in danger of closing, the owner said. Passers-by have aimed obscene gestures at workers and are still driving up to the pumps asking "Is this where all the terrorists work?"

"Some people would come by and do the finger," said station employee Amil Beshay. "Others would say a lot of bad words, things I don't want to repeat. Thank God nobody was hurt. We hope to God our customers will come back."

When the photo of Alshehhi appeared, people started calling police, the FBI and newspapers, swearing that the man in the photo was the one who sold them unleaded gas and cigarettes at the Bayville Shell station.

"As soon as I saw the picture (of Alshehhi), I knew there would be trouble," said Mena, 37.

Owner Magdy Beshara said business is down 75 percent at the station as a result of the backlash. He said if things continue at this rate for another two weeks, he will have to close.

Mena, a relative of Beshara, said he contacted authorities himself to head off what he knew would be inevitable backlash.

"I called the FBI myself, to let them know who I was," he said. "Then I called a newspaper. I was trying to fix the problem."

Mena is now looking for work, and sheepishly admits his dream job is to be an American movie star.