Police use sexy Facebook selfies to identify woman, 26, wanted in $175,000 bank fraud scam

• Tanya Monique Peel, from North Carolina, 'set up a business account at an Atlanta bank to transfer massive sums from a stranger's account'
• She used her real name on the account and photos on her Facebook page matched up with the woman recorded by bank cameras
• Police have a warrant out for her arrest but have not yet found her
  

By Lydia Warren

Published: 07:41 EST, 23 July 2014 | Updated: 10:15 EST, 23 July 2014

Police have identified a woman wanted in a $175,000 bank fraud scam by matching up her account name with sexy selfies she posted to Facebook.

Tanya Monique Peel, from Raleigh, North Carolina, allegedly set up a business account at a JP Morgan Chase Bank in Atlanta last December before transferring $123,000 from a stranger's Charles Schwab account.

Peel, 26, used her real name on the account and when police found the name on Facebook, her selfies matched the woman recorded by bank surveillance cameras, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Wanted: This photo of Tanya Monique Peel on her Facebook page matched a woman seen withdrawing stolen funds from a bank on surveillance footage. A warrant is out for her arrest

Authorities are still looking for the woman and secured a warrant for her arrest last week.

'I think she is with a group of professionals,' Atlanta Police Detective Ken Stapler told the AJC. 'There is no way she did this by herself.'

The transfer was carried out after Peel and fellow suspects stole the identity of the Charles Schwab client, 45-year-old Atlanta resident Terance Fowler.

The investigation began when Fowler reported the theft to police. His bank refunded the stolen sum.

He lost his money when the group got hold of his identifying information and his cellphone number, knowing that Charles Schwab called account holders after transfers were made from their accounts.

Scam: She allegedly transferred $123,000 from one victim's account and her co-conspirators pretended to be the victim when authorities called them to verify the transfer. In total, they stole $175,000 from accounts

The team then forwarded all of the victim's calls to an untraceable cellphone so that when they transferred the cash, Charles Schwab representatives called his cell but ended up speaking to one of the fraudsters. They pretended to be him and gave authorization for the transfers.

In total, they transferred $123,000 from his account to Peel's phony business account and another $52,000 to a Walls Fargo branch in California.

Investigators say that Peel then immediately withdrew all the money from the account.

Crimestoppers of Atlanta is now offering a $2,000 reward for information that leads to arrest and indictment of Peel. Callers can leave confidential tips at 404-577-TIPS (8477).

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