A woman accused of using dating apps to target older men, drugging them before stealing their money and identities, will be extradited from Mexico to the United States to face federal charges, the FBI has confirmed to Newsweek.
Aurora Phelps, a 44-year-old dual U.S.-Mexican citizen, is currently on trial in Mexico for murder. She is accused by U.S. prosecutors of carrying out a yearslong scheme that allegedly left multiple victims dead and cost others millions of dollars.
The case has drawn attention on both sides of the border because of the scale of the alleged fraud, the use of dating apps to identify victims, and investigators’ belief that additional victims may still be unidentified.
“Ms. Phelps will be extradited to the U.S.—but no date has been set yet,” Sandy Breault, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Las Vegas field office, told Newsweek.
Phelps was indicted by federal prosecutors in Las Vegas last year on 21 counts, including wire fraud, identity theft and kidnapping. One kidnapping charge alleges a victim died as a result of the crime. If convicted on all counts, she could face life in prison.
Murder Trial Underway in Mexico
Phelps’ murder trial centers on the death of Robert Erbach, an American retiree living near Guadalajara.
Phelps matched with Erbach on Tinder in 2021 while he was separated from his wife and undergoing divorce proceedings. Friends told the Los Angeles Times the pair dated for several months before Erbach invited her to attend a concert with him at the Hard Rock Hotel in Guadalajara in December 2021.
That was the last time he was seen alive.
Two days later, Erbach’s body was discovered along a roadside outside the city. Authorities determined he died from asphyxiation, though investigators initially struggled to identify him.
Court records cited by the Times allege that Phelps later drove Erbach’s BMW to Las Vegas and opened a Wells Fargo account using his information. FBI investigators also obtained surveillance footage that allegedly showed her withdrawing money using Erbach’s debit card.
Authorities say more than $50,000 was taken from Erbach’s accounts.
In the weeks after his disappearance, Erbach’s son reportedly received text messages from his father’s phone written in broken English claiming he had moved to Ecuador and instructing family members and police to stop looking for him.
Prosecutors also allege Phelps attempted to redirect Erbach’s pension payments but was unsuccessful because the request lacked a verified signature.
Federal Indictment Alleges Broader Pattern
Federal prosecutors say Erbach was not the only victim.
According to the indictment, Phelps met another man in Las Vegas in 2021 and gradually built trust through a series of lunch dates.
Investigators allege she later delivered food to his home and secretly administered a prescription medication that left him largely unconscious for nearly five days. During that period, prosecutors say she stole his phone, tablets, identification documents and bank cards.
Authorities further allege she accessed the victim’s E-Trade account and attempted to liquidate roughly $3.3 million worth of Apple stock, although she was unable to withdraw the proceeds.
A separate victim allegedly met Phelps through a dating app in November 2022. Prosecutors say she heavily sedated the man, transported him across the U.S.-Mexico border and took him to a hotel room in Mexico City, where he was later found dead.
The indictment also links Phelps to the death of another man in Guadalajara in May 2022.
According to prosecutors, the man’s daughter contacted police after being unable to reach her father. Officers later discovered him dead on the bathroom floor of his home. Authorities allege Phelps subsequently used one of his accounts to purchase a gold coin that was mailed to her residence.
FBI Believes More Victims May Exist
Federal investigators believe the known cases may represent only part of the alleged scheme.
The FBI issued a public alert and held a news conference in February 2025 in an effort to identify additional victims. According to the Los Angeles Times, investigators have so far identified at least 11 people allegedly targeted by Phelps.
Prosecutors say Phelps used dating platforms and personal relationships to obtain victims’ financial information between 2019 and 2022.
According to an FBI bulletin, she allegedly used stolen personal information to access victims’ bank, Social Security and retirement accounts. Investigators believe she frequently drugged victims without their knowledge in order to obtain account access and financial records.
While authorities say older men were her primary targets, the FBI noted that women and younger individuals may also have been victimized.
The bureau’s bulletin includes photographs of Phelps and lists several aliases investigators say she used, including Aurora Flores, Aurora Velasco and Aurora Alvarez.
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