A woman in Miramar, Florida, pleaded guilty to laundering $2.7 million after she was accused of committing fraud via romance scams, according to a September 11 statement from the Department of Justice.
Prosecutors said Cristine Petitfrere, 30, used bank accounts to receive funds and sent some of the money to a co-conspirator abroad while keeping hundreds of thousands of dollars for herself.
The U.S. Department of Justice reported that romance scams often involve the creation of a fake online persona, which scammers use to befriend and gain the love of vulnerable people, many of whom are elderly, before scamming them for money.
She faces up to 10 years in prison and is scheduled for sentencing on December 11 in the Southern District of Florida.
A woman’s hand pictured pressing a key on a laptop keyboard photographed on April 3, 2017. Romance scams, in which fraudsters pose as fake personas online to gain the love of vulnerable people, are becoming more prevalent as the Federal Trade Commission reported that Americans lost $1.14 billion in 2023.
Dominic Lipinski/Associated Press
Petitfrere was taken into custody in May and was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, illegal money remitting, and engaging in transactions with criminal proceeds, according to the Miami New Times.
An indictment obtained by the outlet alleged that, “The fraudsters would fabricate stories to the romance scam targets about foreign travel to explain why [they] were unable to meet…in person.” It went on to say the scam would often involve creating fake personas, posing as “accountants, lawyers, or other associates.”
Prosecutors said Petitfrere’s alleged co-conspirator was based in Ghana, as reported by the Miami New Times.
Principal deputy assistant attorney general Brian Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, is quoted in the DoJ’s press release as saying romance scams “cause not only significant losses but also profound emotional harm to countless individuals.”
He continued, “This prosecution underscores the department’s efforts to dismantle the criminal networks that engage in these sophisticated financial schemes to exploit vulnerable Americans.”
Americans lost $1.14 billion to romance scams last year and $1.3 billion in 2022, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The FTC reported that the most popular lies utilized by romance scammers include stating that someone close to them is sick, hurt, or in jail; that they can teach people how to invest; that they are in the military far away; and that they need help with an important delivery.
The most common payment methods used by romance scammers include cryptocurrency, bank wire transfer or payment, gift cards, or a payment app or service according to Homeland Security Investigations.
According to Statista, in 2023 romance scams were most common in California, Florida, Texas, and New York.
Victims of romance scams can join the Cybercrime Support Network, which hosts a 10-week recovery group with a licensed counselor to aid survivors.
Anyone who needs to report a romance scam can contact the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
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