VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A Virginia Beach woman will spend nearly six years in prison after she was convicted of defrauding elderly victims through a nationwide lottery and sweepstakes scheme.
According to the Department of Justice, 62-year-old Terry Lynn Miller received over $220,000 from 10 victims over the course of the scheme. Some of her victims lost their life savings.
Miller signed a cease-and-desist order with the United States Postal Service in June 2019 agreeing to stop participating in fraudulent lottery and sweepstakes schemes. In those schemes, victims would be falsely told they had won millions of dollars, but needed to first pay thousands of dollars in taxes and fees to receive their winnings.
After signing the order, Miller resumed her participation in the scheme and continued until she was arrested in May 2021.
According to court documents, Miller would deposit the money the victims sent her into her personal bank accounts, then convert it and funnel it to her co-conspirators.
Miller also forged victim signatures on fraudulent checks and mailed locked briefcases to victims, telling them the briefcases contained their winnings and that they would receive the combination to the lock when they paid their taxes and fees. The briefcases were actually packed with Hampton Roads newspapers and magazines.
Miller's full sentence will be 57 months in prison.
