Woman out $284K when she's told of lotto win on Facebook: Documents
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A woman in Austin found herself the target of an elaborate scam that promised her hundreds of thousands of dollars in winnings on Facebook, according to investigators.
Authorities have arrested Nurudeen A. Bisuga on a charge of money laundering after allegedly stealing several thousands of dollars from an unsuspecting victim.
According to documents obtained by ABC13, the victim is a 79-year-old Austin woman who told investigators she received a private message on Facebook from a close friend claiming she had won the "Facebook Lottery" and was listed as the winner of $400,000. She was instructed to reach out to another person via private message to begin the process of claiming the money.
The victim sent a message to the designated person who confirmed the victim had won the money and proceeded to give directions about how to pay the taxes on the money.
The documents state on Jan. 25, 2018, the victim was instructed to wire $35,000 to a bank account, and a few days later, sent $55,300 and an additional $20,000. In total, the victim wired $284,000 to several different bank accounts.
Detectives with the Houston Police Department and the FBI's Complex Financial Crimes task force tracked those accounts to Bisugua, and believe some of the money was transferred to a personal account. Some of that money may have been used to purchase vehicles in another country.
