CLEARWATER, Fla. — A Clearwater couple is facing felony charges after detectives said they scammed an 84-year-old woman out of $27,000.
It started with a phone call about an extended car warranty. Detectives said a 34-year-old man and his 24-year-old girlfriend in Clearwater were able to deceive an 84-year-old woman in Connecticut into giving out her credit card number.
Clearwater Police Department Major Natalia Illich-Hailey said the suspects kept calling and over an 8-month stretch, they were able to con her into giving out seven different credit card numbers.
“They can be very persuasive. They call and can get personal information. That’s why the most important thing especially for the elderly community is if you don’t recognize a phone number don’t answer the phone,” Illich-Hailey explained. “The victim gave her credit card information over the phone, and they would go and make purchases. That credit card then would stop working and they would call her back and she would give them another credit card when she had one reissued.”
Detectives said the Clearwater couple racked up $27,000 in charges including 17 orders for food to go from Smokey Bones on Gulf To Bay Boulevard, expensive electronics from Best Buy on Drew Street near US-19 plus the suspects used the stolen credit card numbers to pay for their own car insurance and rent on their apartment at 500 Fairwood Avenue in Clearwater.
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Luckily, the victim’s…
