Mona Faiz Montrage, a former Instagram influencer with nearly three and a half million followers, has been sentenced to one year and a day in prison for her role in an online romance scam. Montrage, who is from Ghana, pleaded guilty to being part of a criminal enterprise that targeted victims in the United States.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, Montrage and her co-conspirators would send victims emails, text messages, and social media messages designed to deceive them into believing they were in romantic relationships with someone who was, in reality, a fake identity.
The scam not only betrayed the trust of vulnerable victims, but also resulted in the theft of their money. Two other women, Rosanna Lisa Stanley and Gina Guy, were arrested in June and charged with bilking older men out of more than $7 million in a 15-year-long series of romance scams.
Stanley and Guy were released on $250,000 bond each and are facing charges of wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. The FBI reports that scammers stole more than $3.4 billion from older Americans last year, with losses from scams reported by Americans over the age of 60 increasing by 11% over the year before.
Investigations have revealed a rise in brazen schemes to drain bank accounts, including the use of couriers to collect cash or gold from victims.
