LAS VEGAS — A woman allegedly exploited online dating platforms to entice several older men into in-person meetings, subsequently administering sedatives to them and stealing significant sums of money in a troubling romance scam, according to FBI officials in Las Vegas on Friday.
Authorities reported that three men lost their lives, and she faces charges related to one of those deaths.
Aurora Phelps, 43, currently detained in Mexico, is confronting 21 charges, which encompass wire fraud, identity theft, and a single count of kidnapping that led to death, as stated by Sue Fahami, the acting United States attorney for the District of Nevada, during a press briefing.
“This is an extreme case of a romance scam,” stated Spencer Evans, the special agent overseeing the FBI’s Las Vegas division. According to Evans, one of the four victims, who faced targeting in 2021 and 2022, has emerged from a coma following a week of receiving prescription sedatives from Phelps.
In a shocking case, it is claimed that Phelps abducted a victim by administering heavy sedation, transporting him in a wheelchair across the U.S.-Mexico border, and ultimately to a hotel room in Mexico City, where he was later discovered deceased.
Following the incapacitation of her victims, Evans reported that Phelps proceeded to steal their vehicles, withdraw funds from their bank accounts, utilize their credit cards for luxury purchases and gold, and even attempted to tap into social security and retirement funds.
The indictment reveals that in July 2021, Phelps had lunch dates with a man and, in November, arranged for lunch to be delivered to his home, during which she provided him with a prescription drug.
During a period when he was largely unresponsive for around five days, Phelps managed to access his accounts and took his iPhone, iPad, driver’s license, and bank cards, as stated in the indictment. It is claimed that she gained access to his E-Trade account and sold Apple stock valued at approximately $3.3 million, but she could not retrieve those funds.
Officials suspect that Phelps utilized well-known dating applications to identify her victims. According to Evans, the men, seeking companionship, went on several dates with Phelps, who then secretly administered sedatives to them.
“It’s individuals seeking romance who stumbled upon something much darker,” he remarked.
Phelps, holding dual citizenship in Mexico and the U.S., had been under the FBI’s scrutiny for several years, as noted by Evans. He chose not to provide any remarks regarding her past legal issues.
A representative from the Department of Justice stated that Phelps lacks a U.S.-based attorney to represent her interests. The Associated Press reached out for comments from Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and Attorney General’s Office, leaving messages for a response.
According to Evans, numerous relatives of the victims reached out to authorities after failing to get in touch with their loved ones.
A woman found herself unable to contact her father the day following his date with Phelps in Guadalajara, Mexico, in May 2022, as detailed in court documents. The following day, authorities in Mexico discovered him lifeless on the bathroom floor of his residence. The indictment claims that Phelps utilized the victim’s account to acquire a gold coin, in addition to making other purchases.
The FBI has identified additional alleged victims in both the U.S. and Mexico, according to Evans. They are releasing information about the case, including suspected aliases, to help identify others who may have been deceived and whose trust in her could have had dire consequences.
The FBI is collaborating with the Department of Justice and Mexican officials to facilitate her extradition.
If found guilty on all charges, which encompass multiple counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, identity theft, and one count of kidnapping, Phelps could potentially face a life sentence, according to Fahami.