Authorities are investigating Aurora Phelps, a Las Vegas woman accused of using dating apps to lure men to Mexico, drugging them, and stealing their money and personal information. The FBI has urged other potential victims to come forward while ensuring their identities remain confidential. Phelps, currently in custody in Mexico, faces 21 charges, including wire fraud, identity theft, and kidnapping, linked to one victim’s death. She allegedly sedated men, stole valuables, and accessed bank accounts, including selling Apple shares worth $3.3 million. If convicted, she could receive a life sentence for her crimes.
New Delhi:
Authorities are investigating additional potential victims of a Las Vegas woman accused of exploiting dating apps to entice multiple men to Mexico, where she allegedly drugged them with sedatives and stole their money along with financial information.
The FBI on Friday urged other men who may have fallen prey to Aurora Phelps’ dating scam to step forward. While the bureau is mandated by law to disclose the names of victims in federal investigations, it has assured that their identities will remain confidential.
As reported by reports, Phelps is accused of taking her victims’ cars, withdrawing cash from their bank accounts, making luxury purchases and acquiring gold using their credit cards, and even attempting to access their social security and retirement funds after administering steroids to them.
The 43-year-old is currently detained in Mexico facing 21 charges, which include wire fraud and identity theft. Additionally, authorities indicated that she faces charges related to the death of one of the men.
The indictment states that Phelps kidnapped one of her victims by heavily sedating him and then transported him in a wheelchair across the US-Mexico border. He was later discovered dead in a hotel room she had taken him to.
Spencer Evans, the special agent-in-charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas division, reported that one of the four victims targeted between 2021 and 2022 fell into a coma after receiving prescription sedatives from Phelps over a week-long period. He remarked, “This is a romance scam on steroids.”
In a separate incident, Phelps reportedly had a lunch date with a man in July 2021 at his residence, where she secretly administered a prescription drug. She subsequently stole his iPhone, bank cards, driver’s license, and iPads, gaining access to his bank accounts in the process.
She also allegedly sold Apple shares amounting to approximately $3.3 million through his E-Trade account, yet was unable to withdraw the funds.
Authorities noted that Phelps targeted individuals through popular dating platforms like Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble.
According to Sue Fahami, the acting United States attorney for the District of Nevada, Phelps could face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on all seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, six counts of bank fraud, three counts of identity theft, and one count of kidnapping.