CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A 20-year-old woman is facing charges for allegedly taking advantage of people who were looking for airline ticket deals.
Police say Teaquesha Hopkins browsed Craigslist, looking for victims. Investigators say she made promises and got people to wire her money.
"That being the fastest way to get funds -- these scam artists know that," said Dan Horne with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department cyber crimes unit.
Police say the victims never received the tickets they were promised.
When police caught up with Hopkins they expected to find a computer. Instead, she became the first person they have charged who used a smartphone to commit the crime.
"We seem to be one step behind -- not the criminals -- we're one step behind the manufactures and the technology," Horne said.
Police say most Web sites warn you not to wire money and to only make deals locally, but most people ignore that advice.
"When they talk to us and we explain to them, 'Well, did you see this? Did you see that?' They go, 'Oh yeah' -- like a light clicks," Horne said.
Police also believe Hopkins pretended to be a loan broker. Officers say, so far, they know of 11 victims. Hopkins is charged with false pretense.
