A Scranton, Pennsylvania accountant and adjunct professor, 63-year-old Margo Ann Williams, is heading to prison for her part in a massive email scam.
The Scheme
Williams was involved in a multi-state business email compromise that netted $800,000 between December 2022 and July 2023. Hackers targeted five victims – a church, two businesses, a non-profit, and an individual – all in the process of making large wire transfers.
Spoofed emails tricked the victims into changing the payment information for their transfers. The money was redirected to accounts controlled by Williams. She then moved the funds through various accounts, eventually sending some to cryptocurrency exchanges and a person in Florida.
Caught in the Act
Banks caught on to Williams’s activities and closed her accounts, but she kept opening new ones to keep the scam going. She pocketed around $25,000, spending it on things like an Apple Watch and a luxury handbag.
The Sentence
Williams claimed she was acting under the direction of a famous British actor she was romantically involved with. However, the court wasn’t buying it. She was sentenced to four years in prison, ordered to pay $594,037 in restitution to the victims, and will serve three years of supervised release after her prison term.
