Photo: Orange County Corrections
She rallied the troops to take this Mr. Wrong down.
By Amy Lamare — Written on Aug 10, 2019
Acacia Oudinot is like many women. She's just looking for a good man and love. Instead she got caught up in a scam that drained her bank account, frazzled her nerves and left her wary of ever finding love. She met a man on Facebook. He friend requested her. Acacia and Wilson Jackson had mutual friends in common. He appeared to be a gainfully employed, successful and eligible bachelor. They started talking. That evolved into flirting. Then he asked her to fly to LA and that's when the trouble started. Who is Acacia Oudinot?
1. He said he bought her plane ticket
Acacia Oudinot got to the airport in Phoenix and attempted to check into her flight and was told that the ticket Wilson Jackson had said he purchased for her wasn't valid. Jackson told Oudinot that he was having issues with his bank card and texted her a picture of himself supposedly at a Wells Fargo. He told her to buy the ticket herself and he'd pay her back. So she did and got on the flight to Los Angeles.
2. It was a good weekend
Jackson met Oudinot at LAX. She said: “He was a gentleman. He got out of the car. He loaded my luggage in the back of the car. He opened the doors for me.” They had a nice weekend in L.A. Acacia said: "He talked about he wants kids, he wants to get married. He wants to have a family." He asked her about her career and dreams for the future. He asked her about the nine years she spent in the Air Force. On Saturday morning, he cooked her breakfast and drove her back to the airport. He texted her Sunday just to say good morning. Acacia flew home to Phoenix.
3. The scam
On Monday morning, Acacia checked her bank account. About $3,000 was missing. When Jackson was done, about $7,000 would be missing. She knew it was Jackson instantly. He had already blocked her number so she couldn't call or text him. Oudinot thinks Jackson took a photo of her debit card while she was in the shower. The LAPD now says that Jackson used stolen information to pay his bills, buy clothing and make travel arrangements for other victims. She had to fight with her bank, but eventually she got most of her money back. She could have let it go there. But she didn't. And she soon found out she wasn't the only one that Wilson Jackson had scammed.
4. Tracking down his aliases
Oudinot was angry and she wasn't going to let Jackson get away it. She told a Phoenix TV station: “I just used whatever I could, image dropping looking for different aliases that he uses, different names that he goes by and YouTube, on any social media, I used LinkedIn, I used Facebook." Oudinot found a number of fake accounts for Jackson — each one with a different name. She found multiple past arrests. She found a message from the Orlando, Florida police department looking for victims of a man named “Syncere,” who befriended single women on Facebook, gained their trust, then drained their bank accounts. The article was from 2011. And it had a mugshot. It was Oudinot's Will Jackson. Oudinot also found Jackson on several dating sites including Black People Meet and Plenty of Fish.
5. More than 20 victims in 8 states going back 10 years
Wilson Jackson's alleged victims are connecting online and telling their stories. They were all similar. When their dates ended, they found their bank accounts drained and charges on their credit cards mounting. Taneisha from Tallahassee, Florida said: "It was just really crazy and I was really heartbroken because that was all the money that I had." Investigators in the case said that Jackson's current address is in the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills. The LAPD has found more than 20 victims in eight states over 10 years that he has scammed so far.
6. LAPD arrested Wilson Jackson
In March, a tip from a woman in San Jose led the California Highway Patrol to arrest him for stealing a Range Rover she had rented for a weekend with Jackson. Jackson swiped the keys, stole the car and left her stranded. Yet another alleged victim in New York paid his bail so he could get out of jail.
Oudinot has met dozens of Jackson's victims from all over the country and handed all the evidence she had collected over to the LAPD. He was arrested again this week on charges of identity theft, forgery and grand theft. The latest arrest will also add multiple charges of fraud to his rap sheet. “He’s obviously very good at what he does, none of us had any suspicion at all until it’s after the fact," Oudinot said.
The LAPD is interested in speaking with other potential victims. Anyone with additional information is being urged to contact the LAPD Detective Stephanie Krajchir at 818-374-9420.
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based freelance writer covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.