An American Airlines flight attendant was arrested at Miami International Airport, accused by authorities in Florida of using a sweepstakes scam to steal over $25,000 from a 75-year-old.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said that Destiny Blake, 24, of Brooklyn, was arrested by Customs and Border Protection agents Friday after she arrived in Miami on an international flight.
Ms. Blake is accused of defrauding her victim, whom the sheriff’s office did not name, of $25,310.
People were interested in these podcasts
The scheme started in November 2025 after the victim took a phone call, purportedly from Publisher’s Clearing House, and was told that she had won a sweepstakes. The victim was told to mail a $500 gift card to Ms. Blake as part of collecting her winnings, the first in a series of payments.
Between Nov. 15 and Nov. 19, the victim withdrew over $14,000 and Ms. Blake received $14,220 in cash and in payments via Zelle. During that period, the victim was unable to access her email account, which had its password and address changed, the sheriff’s office said.
In addition, Ms. Blake is accused of flying to Florida on Nov. 18, using her flight attendant benefits in order to visit the victim for a brief period.
Ms. Blake got herself added to the victim’s Apple card account, the sheriff’s office said, and even left instructions to the victim telling her to tell the card company that Ms. Blake was her granddaughter and was authorized to make purchases.
Between that time and Dec. 11, Ms. Blake is alleged to have used the victim’s credit cards to make 88 charges for over $10,500.
The charges included an eBay order, Apple and T-Mobile products, a visit to a hair salon, purchases at a supermarket in Queens, various trips on Uber, and delivery orders on Uber Eats, the sheriff’s office said.
A warrant was put out for Ms. Blake’s arrest on Oct. 13. She is charged with an organized scheme to defraud over $20,000 from a victim 65 or older, fraudulent use of personal identification information of a person 60 or older, and grand theft over $20,000.
She bonded out of custody for $30,000, the sheriff’s office said.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.