NORFOLK, Va. (WRIC) — A Virginia Beach woman has been sentenced to almost five years in prison, for stealing more than $200,000 from elderly victims across the United States in a lottery and sweepstakes scheme.
According to the release by the Department of Justice, 62-year-old Terry Lynn Miller defrauded ten victims across the U.S. Some victims even lost their life savings.
The release states that Miller signed a cease-and-desist order with the United States Postal Service in 2019, in which she agreed to stop participating in fake lottery and sweepstakes schemes. In the schemes, the victims would be falsely told they had won millions of dollars but had to pay thousands of dollars in taxes and fees before they could receive their winnings.
After signing the order, the release states that Miller immediately continued with the schemes, until she was arrested in May 2021.
Miller would put the money the victims sent her into her personal bank accounts, and then convert it and funnel it to her co-conspirators. She also forged victim signatures on fraudulent checks, and mailed locked briefcases to victims. Miller told the victims the briefcases contained their winnings, and they would receive the combination once the taxes and fees had been paid to her. Miller had actually packed the briefcases with Hampton Roads newspapers and magazines.
Miller was sentenced to 57 months in prison Friday, May 20.
