A widow who lost tens of thousands of dollars to an online love interest scam is one of more than two dozen victims targeted.
More than $1 million in stolen money was sent from North Texas to Nigeria, with additional money going to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
“I fell for it. It’s embarrassing. I’m not a stupid person, but believe me, they have got their act together,” one of the victims said.
A 70-year-old widow, who asked FOX 4 not to share her name or show her face, thought she found new love.
Instead, she lost $75,000 to a group of Nigerian gang members, according to the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office.
Now, the ringleader of the “Yahoo Boys,” 43-year-old Ifeanyichukwu Obi, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
“They were ready for me,” the victim said.
[REPORTER: “They had a lot of documents ready to make themselves seem official?”]
“Yes, they did. They really did,” the victim responded.
In 2019, Colleyville police were tipped off to suspicious activity at a UPS store.
“Because they had an elderly customer who was bringing numerous packages containing cash to their location and shopping it to different addresses,” Colleyville Police Department Sgt. Dara Nelson explained.
A detective determined this person was being scammed by someone who wasn’t who they said they were.
“These people were praying on elderly widows or widowers,” Nelson said.
