IG Influencer Steals Mass. Residents' Identities For $100,000-Plus Scheme

A Miami based social media influencer is accused of using Massachusetts residents' to fraudulently obtain more than $100,000 in COVID-19 disaster loans.

Danielle Miller, 31, was arrested on a charge of wire fraud Tuesday (May 11) after reportedly accessing the myRMV website to steal the identities, open fake bank accounts in the residents' names and fraudulently obtain the disaster loan in her own name in early August 2020, a Homeland Security agent wrote in an affidavit filed on Monday (May 10), Boston.com reports.

According to the affidavit, the process took about 40 minutes and Miller deposited more than $100,000 from the Small Business Administration through a fake TD Bank account using a victim's name several days later.

Miller would later use the fake account's debit card to book a $2,390 private flight from Florida to California, which included spending $5,500 at a luxury hotel in West Hollywood and an additional $173 at a separate hotel located in Beverly Hills.

Miller, who has more than 34,000 followers, seems to have posted incriminating evidence on her Instagram account, including two photos geotagged at the luxury hotels at the time of the charges.

Boston.com acknowledged that her Instagram bio simply states, "I want that."

The Abington Police Department was notified of the alleged identity theft incident in November after a victim reported she got a $50 refund for cancelling a move into a Texas apartment and learned her identity was used in an online lease application after contacting the property.

According to the affidavit, Miller accessed 27 total accounts through the Massachusetts myRMV website, which included using 10 of the identities to apply for more than $900,000 in disaster loans, as well as using other stolen identities from residents of Wisconsin and Arizona.

Miller was previously arrested in five different states in relation to charges that included larceny and identity fraud.

Miller is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Miami on Wednesday (May 12) and will also appear in U.S. District Court in Boston at a later date and could face up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office release via Boston.com.

Photo: Getty Images