A 51-year-old Nigerian man convinced numerous widows throughout the U.S. that he was an American general who needed their money to help get him out of the Middle East — and into their arms
Last year on Valentine’s Day, a 70-year-old woman lost her husband. A few months later, while she was in the hospital, she met a new man on Facebook. He was charming and confident, and he needed her help. His story was like something stolen from the pages of an old pulp adventure magazine: His name was General Austin Miller and he was in the Army, stationed overseas in Afghanistan and also in Syria. He chatted with the widow online, earning her trust and affection.
General Miller promised he planned to return to the U.S. soon, but first he wanted to secure his future. And because he had important papers and jewels in Syria he needed to ship back home, he instructed the widow to use FedEx to get money to a “diplomatic courier.” She did as she was told, sending three checks totaling $334,500, which was a lot of money for her. In fact, to get the cash together, she had to sell her home, her RV and her jewelry.
After the FBI arrived in Prescott, Arizona and interviewed the widow about the scam, she admitted that she “felt shame, embarrassment and guilt.” That was the emotional toll, but there were more tangible consequences, too; the widow confessed to the agents that she “did not have food to eat last week and has not been able to…
