Woman Scammed Out Of $100,000

fmdog44

fmdog44

Well-known Member
Location
Houston, Texas
Bruno Mars catfishing: Texas woman out $100,000 after believing she was in romance with pop star - ABC7 New York (abc7ny.com)
HOUSTON, Texas -- Even with Valentine's Day approaching, some romances, especially those involving a world-famous pop star, may not always be as they appear.
Case in point, a Houston man appeared in court overnight accused of posing as recording artist Bruno Mars on Instagram to strike up a romance with a woman and coax her out of $100,000.
Chinwendu Azuonwu was charged with third-degree felony money laundering last month but was taken into custody this week.
According to his charging documents, Azuonwu is connected to a scheme that happened between September and October 2018 involving a 63-year-old north Texas woman who told police she created an Instagram profile in search of companionship.
She told investigators a person pretending to be Bruno Mars reached out to her and made her believe that he was interested in pursuing a meaningful relationship.
Documents state the woman fell in love with the Mars account and at the time, she believed him to be the real singer because he had sent her multiple texts and photos of the artist while he was on tour. She also told investigators that he wanted to quit the tour to be with her.
The Mars account then began asking the woman for money. According to investigators, she was asked to make out a $10,000 check to a "friend of the band" for "tour expenses," and then, two days later, draw out more funds, this time amounting to $90,000.
Each amount was deposited in separate accounts, which were each held by Azuonwu and an alleged accomplice, Basil Amadi, according to the document. After warrants were executed on the accounts, investigators found a $90,000 deposit in Azuonwu's account, which was later found to be withdrawn down to a zero balance. Investigators then separately interviewed Azuonwu and Amadi. In the document, Amadi said he knew Azuonwu, but Azuonwu claimed not knowing Amadi or the reason for the $90,000 withdrawal. Both men were charged with money laundering, though Amadi's arrest record in the case was not immediately stated.
In Harris County Probable Cause Court, Azuonwu's bail was set at $30,000.
 

Both should be marched into a field and two bullets spent.

Shows what a joke the justice system is when bail was set for $30,000

Not much in the way of integrity there.

What's the penalty for money laundering these days, a few slaps on the wrist along with a coupon for a sucker at the corner store?
 
Jeni said:
I have a hard time feeling bad for a person who obviously missed huge red flags ...... she must seriously have issues.......
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It's true, but I can't help but think of the ones who are desperate to find love and affection.

I know it doesn't excuse their gullible behaviour or actions, but it does serve as a reminder as to how some people's minds work.
 
Texas woman who told police she created an Instagram profile in search of companionship.

at 63 and obviously lonely but with the ability to access the internet it doesn't make sense to not look up Bruno Mars. Maybe she did the article doesn't say. But Bruno a 35 year old multi millionaire in a relationship for 10 years with a model is easy to find info on.

Maybe one of those cases where wanting to believe outweighs deception.
 
Some seemingly bright people get scammed. They’re so desperate to find love. An esthetician I used to go it was good looking and had a very successful business. She’d found ‘love’ with a handsome fellow from Egypt, or somewhere similar. She was planning on flying there to meet him. It was a convoluted story & I kept my thoughts to myself and never did end up returning there so I don’t know how it ended. A year later at a different estheticians, her name came up. Apparently she’d had another very unsuccessful online long-distance romance.
 
Jules said:
Some seemingly bright people get scammed. They’re so desperate to find love. An esthetician I used to go it was good looking and had a very successful business. She’d found ‘love’ with a handsome fellow from Egypt, or somewhere similar. She was planning on flying there to meet him. It was a convoluted story & I kept my thoughts to myself and never did end up returning there so I don’t know how it ended. A year later at a different estheticians, her name came up. Apparently she’d had another very unsuccessful online long-distance romance.
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Jules said:
People can be so cruel when it comes to matters of the heart. Thankfully never happened to me and never would, just one look at my bank balance would make any scammers run for the hills
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Nothing new about these type of stories but still sad all the same. One story sticks in my mind I think was on 60 Minutes where a single woman gave every penny she had and was then totally without money after.
 
fmdog44 said:
Bruno Mars catfishing: Texas woman out $100,000 after believing she was in romance with pop star - ABC7 New York (abc7ny.com)
HOUSTON, Texas -- Even with Valentine's Day approaching, some romances, especially those involving a world-famous pop star, may not always be as they appear.
Case in point, a Houston man appeared in court overnight accused of posing as recording artist Bruno Mars on Instagram to strike up a romance with a woman and coax her out of $100,000.
Chinwendu Azuonwu was charged with third-degree felony money laundering last month but was taken into custody this week.
According to his charging documents, Azuonwu is connected to a scheme that happened between September and October 2018 involving a 63-year-old north Texas woman who told police she created an Instagram profile in search of companionship.
She told investigators a person pretending to be Bruno Mars reached out to her and made her believe that he was interested in pursuing a meaningful relationship.
Documents state the woman fell in love with the Mars account and at the time, she believed him to be the real singer because he had sent her multiple texts and photos of the artist while he was on tour. She also told investigators that he wanted to quit the tour to be with her.
The Mars account then began asking the woman for money. According to investigators, she was asked to make out a $10,000 check to a "friend of the band" for "tour expenses," and then, two days later, draw out more funds, this time amounting to $90,000.
Each amount was deposited in separate accounts, which were each held by Azuonwu and an alleged accomplice, Basil Amadi, according to the document. After warrants were executed on the accounts, investigators found a $90,000 deposit in Azuonwu's account, which was later found to be withdrawn down to a zero balance. Investigators then separately interviewed Azuonwu and Amadi. In the document, Amadi said he knew Azuonwu, but Azuonwu claimed not knowing Amadi or the reason for the $90,000 withdrawal. Both men were charged with money laundering, though Amadi's arrest record in the case was not immediately stated.
In Harris County Probable Cause Court, Azuonwu's bail was set at $30,000.
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It's so sad to see elderly women falling for these creeps, as people face old age alone, their common sense seems to go out the window. Glad they got them.
 
mellowyellow said:
It's so sad to see elderly women falling for these creeps, as people face old age alone, their common sense seems to go out the window. Glad they got them.
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She was only 63, so not really elderly. Maybe that’s why she thought she was bright enough to know what she was doing.

Both genders fall victim to these scammers. Think of wealthy older men with a sweet young thing on their arm.
 
Jeni said:
I have a hard time feeling bad for a person who obviously missed huge red flags ...... she must seriously have issues.......
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So you have a hard time feeling sorry for someone with mental issues who makes huge mistakes due to them?
Obviously there are huge red flags to those with healthy capable minds. Unfortunately not everyone has one.
 
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Jeni said:
I think males can fall for items and probably lose a bit of money on scams like these they probably do not report or want others to know....
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Absolutely. Both genders can be desperate, naive and gullible. It’s very heartbreaking to know that people actually do this to others knowing they are delusional. Very sad indeed. Humanity truly sucks at times. :(
 
Jules said:
She was only 63, so not really elderly. Maybe that’s why she thought she was bright enough to know what she was doing.

Both genders fall victim to these scammers. Think of wealthy older men with a sweet young thing on their arm.
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But at least those guys are actually getting what they're interested in.
 
izzy said:
Whether she was naive, stupid, had mental health issues fact is she was the victim and the scammers should indeed be taken into a field ...🔫.
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We should not judge lest we be judged.

It’s this exact judgemental attitude that prevents victims from coming forward.
Victims of rape, victims of fraud, they are victims and the person who committed the crime should be judged, NOT the victim.

Stop judging victims.
 


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