BOSTON, MA — A Boston woman was charged with posing as a Hells Angel to scam a Newport man out of $34,000, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.
Tiana Serrano, 31, was charged with larceny and held in lieu of $1,000 bail, the district attorney's office said in a media release.
In August, a 30-year-old man "texted a number listed on an escort website but did not receive a response and did not meet anyone," the release said.
"Several days later he began receiving texts from an unknown phone number sent from a person claiming to be Jeff Wolf of the Hells Angels," according to the release.
The sender named man's family members, "referenced his Social Security information and demanded payment for a supposed debt from the escort site," the release said.
"Fearing for his and his family's safety, the victim complied," according to the release.
Over the next 12 days, the man "made more than a dozen payments totaling $34,000 into a Zelle account and a Chase Bank account, both in Serrano's name," the release said.
"A search warrant for the Chase account confirmed the account was opened under Serrano's name, date of birth, Massachusetts license, and home address," according to the release.
"Shortly after each deposit, the funds were moved out of the account to several smaller accounts. Detectives described the activity as consistent with money layering through 'money mule' accounts," the release said. "Such accounts are used to receive and move stolen funds by individuals or a fraud network."
Detectives learned that Serrano, a resident of Dorchester, withdrew from the accounts at numerous Boston ATMs and also transferred thousands of dollars to herslef through CashApp payments, according to the release.
"Newport police initiated the investigation before contacting Boston police, who obtained search warrants for the banks holding Serrano's accounts," the release said.
"These scams are always evolving in technique and complexity and they're always seeking to victimize anyone of any age, any gender, and race and any nationality," Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in the release.
"Too often the victims are too embarrassed or ashamed to come forward," Hayden said. "Luckily that was not the case here."
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