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abujagirl
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A mother and daughter have been jailed for a total of 27years for allegedly using an internet dating scam to steal $1.1m (£700,000). The younger woman faces a 15-year sentence, while her mother was given a 12-year sentence.
According to BBC News, Denver-based Karen Vasseur, 63, and daughter Tracy, 42, tricked victims into believing they were talking to US service personnel looking for love. The duo duped 374 victims in the US and 40 other countries.
Both women pleaded guilty when arrested last year.Colorado authorities said the pair ran an operation which included several other members who have not been caught.
This "staff" would do the leg work of targeting potentially vulnerable people on popular social media sites or dating services. From here, they would concoct a story that they were in the US military, and were in need of money for various reasons - the most popular being travel costs, or satellite phones to "talk directly" with someone.
Although the pair were responsible for administering the scam, the court said the majority of the money was quickly passed on to other accomplices across the world.
Money was most frequently sent to contacts in Nigeria, but also to individuals in the UK, India, UAE and Ecuador.
