New Delhi:
Authorities are looking for more possible targets of a Las Vegas woman, who allegedly used dating apps to lure several men to Mexico, drugging them with sedatives, and stealing their money and financial information.
The FBI on Friday requested other men who fell victim to Aurora Phelps’ dating scam to come forward. Although the bureau is required by law to name the victims of federal crimes it looks into, it said the identities will remain private.
According to reports, Phelps would steal victims’ cars, withdraw money from their bank accounts, use their credit cards to purchase luxury items and gold, and even try to access social security and retirement accounts after injecting them with steroids.
The 43-year-old is currently in custody in Mexico and is facing 21 charges, including wire fraud and identity theft. Authorities said Phelps is also facing charges for one of the men’s deaths.
As per the indictment, Phelps kidnapped one of the victims by heavily sedating him and then took him in a wheelchair across the US-Mexico border. She then took him to a hotel room, where he was later found dead.
Spencer Evans, the special agent-in-charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas division, said that one of the four victims, who were targeted in 2021 and 2022, went into a coma after she gave him prescription sedatives over the course of a week. He said, “This is a romance scam on steroids.”
In another case, Phelps went on a lunch date with a man in July 2021 at his home and slipped him a prescription drug. She then stole his iPhone, bank cards, driving license, and iPads, and also gained access to his bank accounts.
She also allegedly sold Apple shares for around $3.3 million through his E-Trade account, but she was unable to withdraw the money.
Authorities said Phelps used popular dating apps, including Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble, to find her targets.
According to Sue Fahami, the acting United States attorney for the District of Nevada, Phelps may face a maximum sentence of life in prison if found guilty of all seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, six counts of bank fraud, three counts of identity theft, and one act of kidnapping.