Instagram Influencer Danielle Miller’s $1M Covid Loan Fraud – Act 1: Meet The Victims

Join us to hear about Danielle Miller, an “Instagram Influencer” who is also a habitual Covid loan fraudster. This is eCrimeBytes.com Season 2 Episode 11 Act 1: Instagram Influencer Danielle Miller’s $1M Covid Loan Fraud – Act 1: Meet The Victims.

Sources:

• https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/social-media-influencer-sentenced-five-years-prison-15-million-covid-19-relief-fraud
• https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59896759/united-states-v-miller/
• https://www.instagram.com/thedaniellenicolemiller/
• https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/instagram-influencer-sentenced-5-years-prison-using-stolen-identities-rcna103926
• https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60087350/united-states-v-miller/

Transcript:

00:00:10:00 – 00:00:36:00
Keith
Hey, welcome to eCrimeBytes Season two Episode 11. Instagram Influencer Danielle Miller. She has $1 million of COVID loan fraud. And if you’re watching this, you’re going to see a picture of Danielle Miller there. And she is obviously practicing COVID social distancing rules with her friend on our thumbnail.

00:00:36:03 – 00:00:53:11
Keith
And I didn’t have to really look that hard for this picture. If you’re wondering like where I picked this picture and I must be the biggest pervert ever, this was just in the middle of her Instagram photos, and you’re going to see her Instagram. She doesn’t have a ton of Instagram photos out there. So this is one of those very few pictures that are out there.

00:00:53:11 – 00:00:56:03
Keith
And I was like, Hey, we’re going to have to use this. Right?

00:00:56:03 – 00:01:07:01
Keith
So in this case Seth, I picked it because it’s Instagram. Everybody knows Instagram. That’s going to be the technology here, but we’re going to be talking about DMV records.

00:01:07:01 – 00:01:29:10
Keith
There’s this electronic system behind the scenes that is used to get some information. That’s the second part of the technology in this case. Now, the crime, like I said, is over $1,000,000. It’s actually over $1.2 million worth of pandemic loan fraud. And we’re going to talk about what that loan is here in a second. The victims there’s a couple of victims in this case.

00:01:29:10 – 00:01:59:10
Keith
One I just name as the U.S. government, because they’re the ones doing the loans. And so they’re the most direct victim. But there are going to be several victims of ID theft. There’s going to be some victims that we identify with, the initials of L. M. S and K E throughout here. We’re not going to use their full name, so we’re just going to use those initials and you’re going to see that Danielle kind of did a number on both of those individuals. And why this case.

00:01:59:10 – 00:02:17:27
Keith
I think this is just one of those things where you kind of kind of get interested in the dark side of a social media influencer and want to see just, you know, what can happen when things turn bad. And in this case, you’re going to see a lot of it. So in this week, we have four different acts.

00:02:17:27 – 00:02:26:20
Keith
We have Act one, which is today. This is Monday. We’re going to introduce the victims, those initials that we just talked about. Tuesday act two,

00:02:26:20 – 00:02:38:24
Keith
it’s going to be called there’s a post for that. And you’re going to see this is the point where they start tying the crimes into Danielle Miller. Wednesday, Act three.

00:02:38:26 – 00:03:06:19
Keith
This is definitely when Miller is caught. So that’s what I named that one. And then Thursday we’re going to round it out with our last act. And that’s going to be the punishment that she had. So let’s go ahead and get started with Act One, Meet the victims. So to do this, I’ve got to give you a little bit of background and a couple of pieces of information here, because Seth and I are going to just get into the victims right away and talking about some of these crimes.

00:03:06:22 – 00:03:24:18
Keith
And if I don’t do this, you’re going to say, what is this thing he’s talking about and what is that thing he’s talking about? So give me a couple of minutes here just to give you a little bit of a background. Then all this stuff is going to make sense. Couple initials you need to know. SBA stands for Small Business Administration.

00:03:24:21 – 00:03:51:20
Keith
They’re a government entity that will procure these loans that are going to people during the COVID period. Now, there’s a specific type of loan called EIDL loan, and you might hear Seth and I saying something like EIDL or along those lines. That’s the loan we’re talking about. And this stands for economic injury disaster loans. That’s what the initials stand for.

00:03:51:22 – 00:04:20:25
Keith
And the SBA, they produce these loans these EIDL loans. And they can be hefty. I mean, they can go up to millions of dollars. And it’s all based upon what you self-report. So if you’re familiar with the U.S. tax system, there’s some self-reporting in there that the government kind of basically trusts you for a little while before you even up at the end of the year.

00:04:20:27 – 00:04:21:24
Keith
And

00:04:21:24 – 00:04:46:24
Keith
there’s there’s basically some trust in there. There’s also some trust in this EIDL process where the government gets this information and might not be able to verify it right away. Kind of like your taxes. And they will, you know, give the like these like emergency smaller loans of the bigger loan pile of money sooner because they assume some companies need it faster than others because

00:04:46:24 – 00:04:49:26
Keith
they might have to lay off employees and stuff like that.

00:04:49:26 – 00:05:11:01
Seth
Okay, I’m going to try to paraphrase real quick. COVID happens, the economy basically shuts down people couldn’t go to work, companies couldn’t operate. One of the things the government did was they funded the Small Business Administration or SBA with these EIDL loans. And it was basically a free for all. You had a small business, any small business ask for money, you got the money.

00:05:11:01 – 00:05:33:12
Seth
And I think a lot of the money was never actually required to be even paid back. It was basically free money to try to stimulate the economy. So a lot of trust. And there were crazy stories that were known. One guy in Florida was buying Lamborghini with his loan money, and it wasn’t for commercial use. It was because he wanted to own fast Italian cars.

00:05:33:13 – 00:06:06:00
Keith
Okay. So I’m going to switch gears real quick on you to another piece of technology that plays a role in this case. This is called my RMV. Now, my self-explanatory. But the RMV part stands for Registry of Motor Vehicles. Different states call this different things. Where I live, they call it DMV. So just think this is where you go to register your car and do all the registration type of duties online for the state of Massachusetts.

00:06:06:02 – 00:06:07:29
Keith
Now.

00:06:08:02 – 00:06:11:10
Seth
Commonwealth, Jones, it’s a commonwealth.

00:06:11:12 – 00:06:39:16
Keith
Okay. Now, the important part of this system is there’s a lot of personal information in here, not just your car information. You have your name, you have your date of birth, you have Social Security numbers, you have your driver’s license information, you have your addresses. Basically, it’s a hacker’s haven. If you can get in there and get that person’s information, keep that in mind, because this is going to play a role here in a few minutes.

00:06:39:18 – 00:06:50:05
Keith
So with those two pieces of information now, you have enough information to understand what Danielle did here. And Seth will go ahead and get right into the fraudulent activity.

00:06:50:07 – 00:07:18:10
Seth
Okay. So let’s go back to kind of the heart of when we were in COVID here, right? So this is early November of 2020. We had a victim whose initials are L L. M.S., L as in Lara, M as in Michael, S as in as Sara reported that around October of 2020, a month prior, she had received a $50 refund check from a company called BHI Stewarts Landing LP in the mail.

00:07:18:12 – 00:07:49:08
Seth
The check indicated that it was a refund for canceling a move into a property kind of random, right. So following your receipt of the check, LMS the victim contacted that company BHI Stewarts landing and discovered that her identity had been used in connection with an online lease application for property in Texas. And the application listed the name her date of birth and her social.

00:07:49:11 – 00:08:16:09
Seth
So there was additional correspondence when which BHI Sttewarts landing asked the applicant for a bank statement to process the application. And according to the company, it was a bank called TD Bank. In the statement, LMS provided her identity and an identification document with an expiration date of November 7th of 2020, and those were provided in support of the lease application.

00:08:16:12 – 00:08:21:24
Seth
So LMS, as reported by the way, that she was not involved with that lease whatsoever. So this is all fraudulent.

00:08:21:24 – 00:08:39:11
Keith
Yeah. And do note that date the expiration date of November seven, 2020, this is going to come up again. But we’re now talking about November six of 2020. So the identification information that she gave them expired the next day. It wasn’t the next year or anything like that. It was the next day.

00:08:39:13 – 00:08:39:24
Seth
Right.

00:08:39:24 – 00:08:50:12
Seth
So now let’s flash forward. It’s about six months now. They are in early April of 2021. So now agents are investigating by Agents Jones, I believe this is what FBI agents?

00:08:50:12 – 00:08:56:19
Keith
Uh either FBI or HSI. I can’t remember which one in this case.

00:08:56:22 – 00:09:30:14
Seth
Anyway, law enforcement agents are investigating here. So on April 9th of 2021, the agent quotes that she spoke with Victim LMS and learned that she had become aware of a breach to her we’re going to RMV. So her her motor vehicle account, when she realized her account was linked to a phone number that was not hers. So the bank, the TD Bank records reveal that the account number that I guess associates with our our victim here was opened under the name LMS.

00:09:30:14 – 00:09:51:05
Seth
And LMS had reported that she did not open that account. TD Bank records reflect the deposit of $102,000 from the Small Business Administration or SBA to the TD Bank account on August 6th of 2020. And again, a message reported she did not apply for any SBA loan.

00:09:51:05 – 00:10:20:07
Keith
All right, So that was one chunk of the evidence. If we look at a different chunk of the evidence, we know about this, my RMV right? So because it’s an online service, there’s logs associated just like any other online service we’ve talked about. And pretty much any episode on eCrimeBytes. So when the agents looked at who logged in as LMS, they got this IP address and this IP address.

00:10:20:08 – 00:10:45:03
Keith
If you haven’t joined us some prior episodes, it’s just a numerical address that identifies a computer out there on the Internet. Now, I’m going to read you the number in this case. In case you’re curious, it’s I’m just going to refer to it by a shorter number throughout. But it’s 174.61.43.194. And we’ll probably just say the IP address .194.

00:10:45:04 – 00:11:17:05
Keith
That’s just how we refer to things like that. Now, this IP address, which is pretty unique, logged in as LMS and August 1st of 2020 at approximately 8:48 p.m. and linked to a phone number that ended I’m not going to read you the stuff up front it’s a Florida phone number that ends in 9781. This individual that logged in also tried to make several unsuccessful attempts to request a duplicate license.

00:11:17:07 – 00:11:40:29
Keith
You kind of think somebody breaking into an account stealing identity records they would do that right? That would make sense. And the other thing that they tried to do was they attempted to do an address change and that was unsuccessful. They didn’t say what it was to, but I imagine it was probably to where Danielle, because you’re going to find out she’s a subject of this, where she lives.

00:11:41:01 – 00:11:47:25
Keith
That’s what I’m guessing. I don’t know that for sure. So on August 1st of 2020, at approximately 9:18 p.m.,

00:11:47:25 – 00:11:59:22
Keith
that IP address, that computer address, then again opened an online bank account at TD Bank and this is the account that Seth talked about earlier. This just happens to end in 1010.

00:11:59:22 – 00:12:10:18
Keith
The account was in the name of LMS and you know, the Social Security number and the date of birth on the account match the information that Seth presented to you previously

00:12:10:18 – 00:12:25:02
Keith
and the account listed as a an address in Miami, Florida, and a phone number that also match which ended up with the 9781 that I just talked about a little bit previously.

00:12:25:02 – 00:12:36:23
Keith
So all these numbers and addresses and so forth are starting to match up and paint a picture of who might be behind this criminal action. And we’re going to get a lot more details here in a second.

00:12:36:23 – 00:12:50:17
Keith
So on August 1st, 2020, a few minutes later, this is now 9:28 p.m.. This IP again, then went and filed this EIDL loan with the SBA.

00:12:50:17 – 00:12:50:28
Keith
So

00:12:50:28 – 00:13:13:13
Keith
one IP address logged into the Department of Motor Vehicles, then created a bank account, then created the loan, all in a short amount of time in the same day. I mean, that’s right there. You pretty much know what they’re doing, right? Again, everything was in this name of LMS. This is the individual who said this wasn’t me.

00:13:13:13 – 00:13:16:09
Keith
I know she’s female, so I can tell you she said it wasn’t me.

00:13:16:09 – 00:13:38:00
Keith
And when agents then said, hey, this IP address, this computer address is important, we better figure out who’s behind it. It ended up being a Comcast cable modem that was subscribed since August 5th of 2017, so three years prior, and it was registered to this person.

00:13:38:02 – 00:14:01:18
Keith
The initials are HB. And the reason why I’m giving you initials is because they’re a victim too. And it was another address in Miami, Florida, and they had this email address that looks like it might be redacted and part of it and it just kind of ends in like rental 725 at Comcast dot net. So they got a person, but it looks like that person may also be a victim.

00:14:01:21 – 00:14:21:06
Keith
I don’t know if it’s Danielle surfing somebody’s wi fi and going through somebody else’s home that way or if she registered it in another victim’s name or what that story is that wasn’t in the court paperwork and probably is an interesting tangent all by itself. I imagine.

00:14:21:06 – 00:14:26:21
Seth
So. You know, one of my favorite statements on this show was follow the money. Right? So I.

00:14:26:21 – 00:14:28:03
Keith
Wrote that for you.

00:14:28:05 – 00:14:59:07
Seth
The I know. I appreciate it. So that actually happened here, right? So the TD Bank records from account ending in 1010 revealed numerous transactions in the amount of 1900 dollars from Publix Supermarket in southwest Miami, Florida. So those you don’t know a Publix is like this humongous and frankly amazing supermarket chain known for having fantastic subs. And it’s kind of like a you know, a very I don’t say high end, but it’s a fantastic grocery store that’s definitely down south.

00:14:59:07 – 00:15:21:15
Seth
And those purchases happened between August and September of 2020. And Publix reported the transaction on details of the transactions that occurred with a debit card that ended in 9956 that was associated with that same bank account that ends in 1010. So Publix records reveal that the items purchased were Western Union money orders. Oh, by the way, Publix does more than just sells food.

00:15:21:18 – 00:15:26:16
Seth
They have some professional services, like offering money services through Western Union. There was

00:15:26:16 – 00:15:54:02
Seth
a Western Union money order all stand Publix 1009 and we’re totaling $22,862. The majority of the money orders were made out to a company called K Gems and Jewels, and some listed a purchaser and signature of LS. Some money order is listed other names as a purchaser to include some that appear to read DM as in dog money.

00:15:54:04 – 00:15:55:25
Keith
Or Danielle Miller.

00:15:55:27 – 00:15:57:23
Seth
Or Danielle Miller.

00:15:57:23 – 00:16:28:27
Seth
So let’s continue following the money. TD Bank records reveal a credit card application that was dated October six, 2020 In the name of LS, which was ultimately declined. The application also listed the date of birth. So and also the name and identifiers of KE. We’ll come back to KE shortly. And as noted, LMS had reported that she is unfamiliar with KE and that LMS did not apply for this card and the application listed the address and an apartment down in Miami, Florida.

00:16:29:00 – 00:16:51:16
Keith
Yeah, this is a we may say it on you know, in the future, on this episode, but this is a 60 Southwest Miami, Florida apartment. This address will definitely come up several times throughout this episode. So I’m going to say it just in case we end up saying 60 Southwest at some point. And with that, we’re going to pause because Act one is done.

00:16:51:16 – 00:16:55:20
Keith
We’ve introduced you to the victims. We introduced you to the crime.

00:16:55:20 – 00:17:06:02
Keith
You’re going to enjoy act two because this is where the agents put all the crimes to Danielle Miller and it’s not just identifying her.

00:17:06:03 – 00:17:24:18
Keith
We have pictures. We have her using these things that she stole on Instagram and we’re going to look at all of them and it’s going to be a lot of fun. So do please come back in act two and check that out. If you haven’t been to our website, please go there. It’s eCrimeBytes dot com. Bytes spelled

00:17:24:18 – 00:17:51:09
Keith
the computer way. B Y as in yellow milk T E S dot com and whatever application you’re listening to or watching us on, please give us thumbs ups, five stars. If you got a spot where you can fill something out, tell us what episode your favorite and we really appreciate that. That helps us move up the charts and all the different streaming platforms that we stream this out there.

00:17:51:12 – 00:17:55:06
Keith
And with that, we look forward to seeing you on act two. See you then.

00:17:55:09 – 00:17:55:26
Seth
See you tomorrow.