A Texas woman spent years scanning Facebook and Instagram for people at their lowest. When she found them, she told them their luck was cursed and she could fix it. She could not. She just wanted their money.

Bridgette Doreen Evans, 47, of Frisco, Texas, and her partner Vinnie John Uwanawich are now facing federal fraud charges. Prosecutors say their scheme stole $2.5 million from victims across the country.

The two face federal charges of fraud and conspiracy in a Seattle court.

How the scam worked

Evans did not sit in a storefront waiting for people to walk in. She used Facebook and Instagram's ad tools to put herself in front of people going through hard times. Divorce. Grief. Loneliness. The platforms let her aim ads at people based on what they searched and what they clicked on.

She offered free love readings to get people talking. Then she studied them. She was not looking for the curious. She was looking for people who were hurting and ready to believe something was wrong with their lives on a deep level.

Once she had a target, she told them they had a curse or bad energy blocking their luck in love and money. Only she could remove it. But it would cost them.

Evans used fake names: "Jolene Travis," "Joy John," and "Joy Paige." Prosecutors say she used those names to hide a criminal record going back 15 years. In 2011, Evans and two other women pleaded guilty to a similar $59,000 sorcery scam in Florida.

One woman lost everything

The hardest part of this case is what happened to Victim 1, a woman from King County, Washington.

Over time, Evans told her that her money was the source of a dark cloud over her life. She said the wealth needed to be "cleansed." So the woman started sending money. Then more. Then more.

First she cashed out her retirement savings. Then she sold her home. Then, when she got divorced, Evans told her not to take monthly payments from her ex-husband. Monthly payments would be "cursed." Instead, she told the woman to take a one-time cash settlement. Then she sent Evans that money too.

By the end, Victim 1 had sent Evans $2.18 million.

But Evans could not just let that much money hit her bank account. Banks flag big wire transfers. So she had a plan.

She told the victim to wire the money to gold shops in Florida. On paper, the woman was just buying gold coins. Once the gold was in hand, she mailed or hand-delivered the coins to Evans' "altar." Evans' partner Uwanawich then sold the gold back to dealers for cash. No bank record. No trace.

A $125,000 Corvette as a "spiritual sacrifice"

Another victim, Victim 3, was talked into taking out a loan to buy a $125,000 Chevy Corvette. She was told it was a "sacrifice" to clear her bad luck. She shipped the car to the group in Florida.

When Evans was later locked up in a Florida jail for a separate fraud case, the car was impounded. The group told Victim 3 the Corvette had "negative energy" and needed to stay away from the altar. They then asked her to sign over the car's title to them rather than pay to get it out of the lot.

She did not sign.

The scam kept going while Evans was in jail

Evans pleaded guilty in Florida to a different psychic fraud case on December 8, 2023. But the "Jolene Travis" name stayed active.

Uwanawich and others kept the fraud going. They told victims that Jolene was "in deep prayer" or "with the angels" to explain why she could not get on the phone.

Victim 2 had sent more than $86,000. When she started asking questions and wanted her money back, the group told her that "John," another name they used, was in the hospital. Then they told her he had died. The lie bought them months.

In the end, the group paid back less than 6% of the $2.5 million they stole. They sent small amounts back just to keep victims from going to the FBI. On one day in October 2023, they collected $900 from Victim 1 and sent that same $900 to Victim 3 within 15 minutes.

"These perpetrators came into the lives of these victims at a time when their judgment was clouded by emotional loss and feelings of hopelessness," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. "Ms. Evans preyed upon their needs, convincing victims that she could remove a curse and help them find love. In truth, her scheme was simply to help herself to their wealth."

A warning for South Texas

No state is off limits for this type of fraud. Ads on Facebook and Instagram can reach anyone with a phone. If someone on Facebook or Instagram tells you that you have a curse and asks for money or gold to fix it, that is a scam. Stop. Do not send anything. Do not buy gold for anyone you met online.

Do not send money to anyone claiming to remove curses or bad energy.

If you or someone you know was targeted by a scheme like this, contact the FBI at tips.fbi.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Evans and Uwanawich are still moving through the court system. El Tejano will update this story as the case moves forward.