Texas couple sentenced for $3M romance scams from Chicago to Kentucky | #RomanceScam

HOUSTON — A Fulshear couple is going to prison for “heartless” romance scams that cheated elderly victims out of millions of dollars, according to the US Attorney’s Office.

Darlington Akporugo, 47, and Jasmin Sood, also known as Jaslynn Washington, 37, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.

Editor’s note: The above video with warnings about romance scams originally aired in February.

This week, U.S. District Judge Charles Eskridge sentenced Akporugo to 188 months in a federal prison. He handed Sood a 121-month sentence.

Both defendants must also serve three years of supervised release following their sentences and pay full restitution of $3,123,073.

Akporugo and Sood preyed on dozens of women, including several widows, on social media or online dating sites. The feds identified over 25 victims in multiple states from 2015 to 2022.

At the sentencing hearing, four victims testified that Akporugo and Sood peppered them with false promises and tricked them into sending large sums of money.

One victim told the court how the pair coerced her into buying a luxury vehicle and renting a mansion for them. Authorities arrested the couple while they were driving the victim’s vehicle and living in her rented home.

Judge Eskridge highlighted the financial devastation left in their wake and commended the victims for their courage in coming forward.

Akporugo admitted he was the mastermind of the long-running romance scheme based in Houston that targeted victims from Chicago to Kentucky. He and others used fake names and social media profiles to gain victims’ trust, and then persuaded them to invest in non-existent businesses or send money for personal circumstances.

Sood created fake businesses and bank accounts under aliases and used disguises to deposit the funds.

He said the suspects approached at least one victim in the Houston area in person and convinced her to ride with them to her bank, where they gained control of her banking access devices.

The money from her and other victims was spent on their extravagant lifestyles, including a luxury vehicle.

“Romance scams and other financial schemes like this exploit our nation’s elderly and vulnerable populations out of their hard-earned retirement savings and other critical funding that they need to survive,” said Special Agent in Charge Chad Plantz of Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI). “As a result, they are often left emotionally devastated and financially ruined with limited options for recovery once the money has been laundered out of the U.S.”

“Investigating and prosecuting those that perpetuate romance scams—particularly those who target the lonely elderly—will always be a priority for the Southern District of Texas,” Ganjei said. “We applaud those victims courageous enough to notify authorities, and we encourage others who have been victimized to similarly come forward.”

ICE-HSI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Carter prosecuted the case.

The scam Akporugo and Sood are accused of is a typical ploy used by romance scammers who prey on people who may be vulnerable. They often create social media accounts using someone else’s name and photo. They typically pretend to be widowers or widows or in the military to gain sympathy. They often use photos with children or pets to win hearts.

“The scammer’s intention is to establish a relationship as quickly as possible, endear himself to the victim, and gain trust. Scammers may propose marriage and make plans to meet in person, but that will never happen. Eventually, they will ask for money,” the FBI says on its website.

Many romance scammers adjust their stories to what they think will work in each situation. For example, the FTC says these con artists often make up excuses to avoid meeting in person by saying they’re living or traveling outside the country, working on an oil rig, in the military, or working with an international organization.

“This makes it easier to avoid meeting in person—and more plausible when they ask for money for a medical emergency or unexpected legal fee,” the FBI says.

Some romance scammers may send private messages on dating apps asking to become someone’s “sugar momma” or “sugar daddy” and offer to pay their bills. Others may try to trick their victim into depositing money on a cryptocurrency trading platform. But these are both ways to trick unsuspecting victims into giving away their cash, according to the BBB.

Here are five other romance scam red flags to look out for.

Red Flag #1: Too good to be true. Many romance scammers offer up good-looking photos and tales of financial success to trick people into falling in love before asking their victims to send money. If they seem “too perfect,” your alarm bells should ring.

Red Flag #2: In a hurry to get off the dating site or app. These scammers will try very quickly to get you to move the conversation to email, messenger, or over the phone. If a love interest appears to be in a hurry to get off the dating app to an unsecure chat app, that is a red flag.

Red Flag #3: Moving fast. The con artists who carry out romance scams are experts at what they do and will seem genuine, caring and believable at first. Many scammers will begin speaking of a future together and will tell you they love you quickly or use overly flowery language to flatter you.

Red Flag #4: Poor spelling or grammar. If the person you are communicating with has poor spelling or grammar, or uses phrases that don’t make sense, that’s a sign that you could be talking to a scammer. This is a common telltale sign for other types of scams, too.

Red Flag #5: Tugging at your heartstrings. Before moving on to ask you for money, the scammer may hint at financial troubles, like their heat being cut off or that their car was stolen. They may even share a sad story from their past, such as the death of their parents or spouse.

Red Flag #6: No friends or just a handful of friends and relatively new social media accounts with few or no posts.

There are several ways to avoid falling victim to a romance scam. The BBB, FBI and AARP all share the following tips on how to protect yourself from being scammed:

• Never send money to someone you’ve never met in person. You should immediately cut off contact if someone starts asking you for personal information like a credit card, bank, or government ID number.
• Be careful what you post and make public online. Scammers can use details shared on social media and dating sites to better understand and target you.
• Do your research. Many scammers steal photos from the web to use in their fake dating profiles. You can do a reverse image lookup using a website like tineye.com or images.google.com to see if the photos are stolen from somewhere else.
• Be wary even if you’re the one who made contact first. Scammers flood dating websites with fake profiles and wait for victims to come to them. You should always ask specific questions about details found in a profile. A scammer may stumble over remembering details or making a story fit.
• Be very suspicious of requests to wire money or use a pre-paid debit card. These are scammers’ favorite ways to send payments because, like cash, it can’t be recovered once the money is gone.

If you suspect an online relationship is a scam, stop all communication with the person immediately. You should also notify the social media site or app where you met the scammer. If you paid a romance scammer with a gift card, wire transfer, credit or debit card, or cryptocurrency, the FTC says that you should contact the company or your bank right away.

“Tell them you paid a scammer and ask them to refund your money,” the FTC says.

To report a romance scam, you can file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov or go to the BBB Scam Tracker.