Woman duped into handing over money after being told of prize via Facebook Messenger

A woman was told via Facebook Messenger she had won a prize, and handed over $7000 before suspecting she'd been scammed. Photo / 123rf

A woman was duped on Facebook into believing she had won prize money in a competition, but she wouldn’t be able to claim it until she paid “tax on her winnings”.

The victim, a woman in her late 50s, was contacted via Facebook Messenger on July 3 last year and told she had won some prize money.

She was sent a link to a Facebook profile under the name “Gillian Donaldson” who she was told to contact to claim her prize.

On July 19 the victim did as instructed, and was then asked to provide what a police summary of facts described as a “considerable amount of personal information” and to transfer her own funds as part of the prize claims process.

The victim was then provided with an ASB account number in Pauline Minnie June Ruth Roguski’s name and transferred $2000 to her account.

The next day she received another message from the person named Gillian Donaldson who told the victim she then needed to pay tax on her winnings. The victim was told to pay $5000 into the account she was given the day before, or she would not get her prize.

She again did as asked, but when more messages started arriving she became suspicious and contacted her bank and the police.

The victim’s bank was able to recover the $5000 sent in the second transaction, and the remainder was sought as reparation.

Now, Roguski has been convicted on a charge of receiving.

The 26-year-old, who pleaded guilty when she appeared in the Nelson District Court today via video link from a custody cell, said through her lawyer she would get a loan if she had to repay the victim.

Police confirmed that reparation was agreed upon at the time restorative justice was “attempted”.

Roguski and the victim did not know each other and her lawyer Ian Miller said she was being used as a mule in the scam. While that was no excuse she knows she should not have allowed it to happen.

At the time Roguski had been in a full-time job.

Judge Tony Zohrab noted her lack of previous offending and her guilty plea to the charge but also took into account the impact on the victim.

“This has weighed heavily on her,” he said.

Roguski was ordered to pay $2000 in reparation plus $400 in emotional harm payment to the victim.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.