MARGATE, Fla. – A Margate man is accused of defrauding Florida and Pennsylvania residents out of thousands of dollars in an alleged business email compromise scam.
Colin Ansby, 25, was arrested Tuesday and booked into the main Broward County jail on charges of grand theft and scheme to defraud over $50,000.
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The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Ansby was the recipient of the proceeds of an elaborate scheme to defraud unsuspecting customers.
A business email compromise scheme uses compromised email accounts to convince the victims to wire transfer money that they believe is for legitimate business purposes.
FDLE spokeswoman Jessica Cary said a woman in Lee County believed that she was communicating with her real estate attorney via email and transferred more than $100,000 for a real estate purchase.
Cary said another woman in Pennsylvania believed that she received an email from a supervisor directing her to transfer more than $20,000 to purchase clothing.
Ansby will be prosecuted by the Office of Statewide Prosecution in Fort Myers.