(NewsNation) — In Florida, authorities have warned that criminals are finding new ways to scam seniors from behind bars by using cell phones and the internet to con people out of their hard-earned money.
State officials recently launched “Operation Triple Threat,” which they said uncovered multiple instances of prison inmates scamming seniors. One of the cases found that a 92-year-old man was scammed out of $800,000 over two years.
“We’ve identified people who are incarcerated in the state have had cellphones smuggled in and used internet services to reach out to seniors,” said James Uthmeier, Florida Attorney General. “We see tens of billions of dollars stolen through scam activity across the country, and Florida is currently ranked #2 as the state scammers want to target the most.”
Officials said they searched through three prisons and confiscated nearly 40 cellphones, eight SIM cards, ten batteries, 94 chargers, and four Wi-Fi hotspots. They added that some of the inmates allegedly used cryptocurrency as part of their crimes while convincing seniors to make fake purchases.
“They love to send older adults, in particular, to these cryptocurrency ATMs,” said Karen Murillo, Advocacy Manager at AARP Florida. “They may even tell them it’s a security locker or name it something other than a cryptocurrency. Once that person hits send, it’s gone.
Florida isn’t the only state fighting to stop seniors from being scammed. Some states have introduced “temporary hold” laws, which let banks and other institutions hold transactions that they think are fraudulent. California and Michigan also have laws to protect seniors. Meanwhile, legislators in Maine voted for a bill to prevent the exploitation of seniors.
Investigators acknowledged they don’t know how many suspects face charges.
The FBI says seniors lost $4.8 billion in 2024 from internet scams. Crypto scams for people over 60 accounted for $1 million in losses.