Fraud suspect identified from Facebook selfie arrested

ATLANTA — The search is over for the woman police say drained an investment account of $175,000.

According to police, Tanya Peel turned herself in Friday. Police said they were able to identify Peel as their fraud suspect, thanks to a selfie she posted on Facebook.

Police told Channel 2’s Ryan Young all about the elaborate scheme they said Peel created to siphon away the money.

“She used her real North Carolina ID to set up the bank account. I was able to get a copy of her drivers license, Facebook photos. Bank surveillance pictures match all three up to verify it was Tanya Peel,” Detective Ken Stapler said.

Stapler said Peel, or someone she knows, set up a fake business in Atlanta and then went after one target.

“This particular victim had $175,000 withdrawn from his Charles Schwab Investment account. Of that, $123,000 went to the account that Tanya Peel set up here in Atlanta,” Stapler said.

Investigators said they’ve watched video of Peel walking into bank after bank withdrawing a few thousand dollars at a time.

The victim was shocked and devastated by his loss.

“He was completely shocked and blown away that someone could convince Charles Schwab that they were him,” Stapler said. “They were able to do this by obtaining his AT&T cellphone number and they forwarded his calls to their phone the day they transferred the money from Charles Schwab.”

WSBTV