In December 2024, an Oklahoma woman named Jason Morris convinced his elderly online girlfriend to send him $120,000 for a non-existent oil vessel in Alaska. However, it was revealed that Morris did not exist, and the real scammer was Christine Joan Echohawk, a 53-year-old woman from Oklahoma. Echohawk scammed four different elderly women out of $1.5 million through online romance scams. She laundered the money through various accounts and converted it into cryptocurrency. Echohawk used fake names such as Edward Lotts and Glenn Goadard to convince the women to send her large sums of money for various reasons. The scams were reported to the Attorney General’s office, leading to charges of unlawful use of criminal proceeds and violating state statutes being filed against Echohawk. Additionally, the FBI defines these types of scams as confidence/romance crimes, where victims believe they are in a relationship with the perpetrator and are manipulated into sending money or valuable items. Echohawk admitted to receiving money under the alias of Maurice Dinero and is facing multiple charges that could result in up to 62 years in prison and $260,000 in fines. She is currently being held in Pawnee County Jail. Attorney General Gentner Drummond commended the work of the Consumer Protection Unit in holding Echohawk accountable and seeking justice for the victims.
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Officials say an Oklahoma woman posed as men in fake romances to scam $1.5 million out of elderly women
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