LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — If you're turning to the web for love, it could be your worst nightmare.
The FBI arrested a Las Vegas woman in Mexico for allegedly luring older men online and scamming them out of thousands of dollars, including victims in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas area FBI special agent in charge Spencer Evans announced Friday that 43-year-old Aurora Phillips was arrested in Mexico in connection to scamming older men across the country.
"She befriended them in many cases. She went on multiple dates with them, brought them into her confidence, administered heavy doses of sedatives, kept them drugged, and then was able to access their financial information, their bank accounts. In the case of one victim, literally pushed him across the border in a wheelchair," said Evans.
The FBI says there are four victims that they know of, two being from Nevada and others from Arkansas and Mexico.
She allegedly met the victims on various dating sites from 2019-2022. The FBI believes the romance scams ended up in the deaths of three U.S. citizens.
"Once she incapacitated her victims, Phelps stole their cards, accessed their bank and brokerage accounts to withdraw cash, used their credit cards to make a variety of purchases...," said Evans. "In one instance, she is alleged to have liquidated millions of dollars of stock from one of her victims."
Phelps now sits in a Mexican jail and is waiting for extradition to the United States, where she'll face 21 charges, including bank fraud, identity theft, kidnapping and kidnapping resulting in death.
"We want to draw awareness to this case to identify other potential victims who may have interacted with or taken advantage of by Miss Phelps," said Evans.
Romance scams are more common than you would expect.
Henderson resident Terri Hampton knows first-hand how it feels to be a victim.
"I got scammed... Looking for love in all the wrong places," said Hampton.
She tells me she lost hundreds of thousands of dollars after meeting a man online.
Moeller: When you found out the money was taken from your account, how did that make you feel?
Hampton: I wanted to die.
After hearing about this case, she has a message to locals looking for love online.
"Don't do it. It's very dangerous. You don't know who they are."
