FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. >> Two women are scheduled to appear in court tomorrow on charges of bilking 21 people out of $350,000 in a national lottery scam that targeted the elderly. 2 women face charges
on lottery scamSome victims were isle residents
Associated Press
Indirha Cyreta DeRose, 21, and Aliann Nicole Audouin, 27, both of Miami, were charged with wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
None of the victims was from Florida but they came from 15 states including New York, Iowa, Washington and Hawaii.
The women would find victims from lists of previous lottery scams in which seniors were encouraged to pool their resources to buy state lottery tickets to increase their chances of winning a big payoff, a criminal complaint said.
The pair would then notify the victims, telling them they had won a big payout from the previous clubs and that they needed to pay thousands of dollars in taxes first in order to claim prizes, the complaint said.
The victims never collected any money.
The women would use phone cards and prepaid cellular phones that can't be traced to one person, authorities said. Victims were asked to wire money under false names for "security purposes," in amounts that didn't require them to produce identification.
The women are being held without bail pending a hearing in federal court tomorrow.