LARGO, Fla. — Largo police are warning the public of a new scam targeting seniors, as the Federal Bureau of Investigation says Floridians rank in the top third for most losses from internet-based crimes.
What You Need To Know
- Law enforcement is warning of a new gold conversion scam, where people exchange money for gold and send it off, thinking it’s safe
- Most scam victims never get any of their money back
- According to the FBI, Floridians lost $1.072 billion from scams in 2024, the third largest loss in the country
The last few years have been difficult for Susan Lancaster, following the death of her partner in September 2023.
“Then my son was diagnosed with dementia three days later, after he died. So it’s been a rough couple of years,” said Lancaster.
In two separate scams, the Largo woman, who also serves as a full-time caregiver for her adult son, was left with $60 in her bank account.
The once-retired former banker is now in the process of refinancing her home, just to stay afloat.
“They took a lot. My credit score dropped about 84 points. So that wasn’t good, wasn’t fun,” said Lancaster.
Lancaster said it all started with a simple message online, a fake receipt for a product she didn’t buy. She says they then quickly asked for control of her computer. She knows now not to do that, but at the time she thought she was talking to a legitimate person.
Lancaster’s story is one of more than 50,000 complaints received by Florida law enforcement in 2024. Joel Quattlebaum of the Largo Police Department is on the front lines fighting these scams.
“What we always tell folks is, ‘Once it’s gone, it’s gone.’ It is extraordinarily difficult to retrace and get back funds,” Quattlebaum said.
Quattlebaum, who serves as LPD’s senior services officer, is now seeing a rise in a new scam centered on gold and an online notice that the victim wasn’t expecting.
“It’s a notification that, essentially, their funds in the bank are no longer safe and that it needs to be sent to a federal banking institution,” said Quattlebaum.
“Those folks end up, ultimately, taking out what we’ve seen as tens of thousands of dollars in real money, and then they’ll go and purchase gold in the idea that they’re going to have it secured in a federal banking installation,” he said.
Most victims never see that money again. Quattlebaum says a courier, who sometimes doesn’t even know what they’re transporting, picks up the gold, taking it straight to the criminals and leaving no discernable trace.
“Truly a perfect crime in a sense that you have a senior under the guise that they’re going to be securing their funds because their bank account has been compromised. However, what often times happens is, they watch a courier take their money and drive off with their entire life savings,” Quattlebaum said.
Christopher Arbutine runs The Silver Queen in Largo. He’s seen customers come in trying to buy gold for this scam. So many he felt it appropriate to draft a waiver so his customers know that if they’re buying gold to send to a courier, it could be a scheme.
“We’ve put a lot of safeguards in place since about a year-and-a-half ago,” said Arbutine. “We’re not talking $500, $5,000, we’re talking people that’re coming in trying to spend $50,000 to $100,000, sometimes $200,000. And when we see that right now, we’re very careful to make sure that we inform them that this could be a scam.”
“I make enough to pay the bills, but not really enough to catch up and build a savings,” said Lancaster.
Back at the Lancaster’s, money is tight in what was supposed to be her golden years. She said she’s also lost her sense of trust and remains more cautious about things that seem too good to be true.
“They just keep talking. They’re professional, they’re good, they’re smart,” Lancaster said.
Largo police say that often, seniors are targeted because they have money to be scammed out of. Law enforcement is reminding everyone to stay vigilant, especially online.
