Who is Aurora Phelps? LA woman accused of ‘romance scam’ over online dating apps

Aurora Phelps reportedly lured her targets in, then drugged them and stole their personal information to rob them.

A 43-year-old woman from Los Angeles was arrested in Mexico for allegedly luring at least four older men on online dating apps, enticing them into meeting her in person, then drugging and robbing them, FBI officials said.

Aurora Phelps is believed to have lured victims over online dating apps and exploited them to steal their personal information. (X/@FBILasVegas)

The accused, identified as Aurora Phelps, is facing charges on 21 counts of wire fraud, identity theft among others, along with one count of kidnapping resulting in death, said Sue Fahami, the acting US attorney of the District of Nevada.

Three of the men that Phelps baited have died and she has been charged in one of their deaths, officials said.

Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Las Vegas unit, described this as "a romance scam on steroids".

Who is Aurora Phelps?

According to the federal bureau of investigation (FBI), Aurora Phelps met individuals online or exploited her known persons to steal their personal information between around 2019 and 2022. She is believed to have used Hinge, Tinder and Bumble to find her targets.

The federal agency also mentioned three other aliases of Phelps; Aurora Flores, Aurora Velasco, and Aurora Alvarez.

Once Phelps lured someone in and stole their information, she used those details to fraudulently access their bank, social security or retirement accounts.

Phelps would even sometimes drug her victims without their knowledge to get this information out of them, the FBI said. "Mrs Phelps primarily targeted elderly men. However, she was known to target all age groups as well as women," it added.

As per special agent Evans, these men who fell pray to Phelps were mostly lonely or looking for some companionship and went on multiple dates with Phelps before she confidently gave them sedatives.

“It's folks that are out looking for love that ran into something far more sinister,” he said.

One of the four victims of Phelps, who the FBI said was targeted in 2021 and 2022, woke up from a coma from Phelps gave him some prescription sedatives over a period of a week, special agent Evans mentioned.

Phelps allegedly also kidnapped a victim after giving him heavy sedatives and took him across the US-Mexico border in a wheelchair following which, she took him to a Mexico City hotel room, where he was later found dead.

After ensuring that her victims were in a helpless state, Phelps stole their cars, withdrew money from their bank accounts, used up their credit cards on luxury purchases and gold, Evans mentioned.

As per the 43-year-old's indictment, she met a man in July 2021, went on many dates with him and then later that November she ordered lunch to his house and slipped in a prescription drug.

He was "mostly unconscious" for around five days, leaving Phelps plenty of time to gain access to his accounts, steal his iPhone, iPads, driver's license and bank cards. Additionally, she allegedly access his E-trade account and sold Apple stock worth $3.3 million. However, she could not withdraw this money.

The dual citizen of the US and Mexico had been on the federal agency's radar for a couple of years now, Evans mentioned.

A spokesperson for the Department Justice also said that Phelps does not have a US based attorney who could speak on her behalf.

In another similar accounts of one of the victims, a father was unreachable to his daughter a day after he went on a date with Phelps in Mexico's Guadalajara in May 2022. The man was found dead on the bathroom floor of his room the next day by the Mexican police.

Then, Phelps reportedly used one of the accounts belonging to the victim and bought a gold coin, along with other transactions, the indictment alleges.

In its official statement, FBI believed that there possibly might be more such instances involving Phelps, encouraging victims or anyone aware of such an incident to come forward and provide relevant information to the investigation.

"If you know of someone else who has possibly been victimized by Aurora Phelps, please encourage them to complete the form themselves," the FBI notice read.

Meanwhile, the federal agency is working with the Department of Justice and Mexican authorities to secure her extradition. A Mexican official familiar with the case, as cited by The Associated Press, said that she was in custody for the purpose of extradition.

Sue Fahami, acting US attorney for the District of Nevada, could face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on every charge, which also includes 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.

(with AP inputs)