Scammers got to woman's home, steal her debit card

DADE CITY (FOX 13) - Two women are suspected of stealing an elderly woman's debit card when she desperately needed help,  Pasco County deputies said Friday.

Sgt. Dean Quinlan said an 88-year-old woman from Dade City got a call April 15 from a woman claiming to be from Wells Fargo bank. The caller said the victim needed a new debit card.

"She was told by the woman on the phone to place the debit card in an envelope and then put it in the mailbox. She was also asked for the PIN number, which the elderly female did give to the woman on the phone," Quinlan said.

Quinlan said the elderly woman never made it to the mailbox.

"She was taking the envelope to the mailbox, she fell in her home," he said. "She tells the woman on the phone that [she fell] and says that she's going to call 911. The female on the phone says, 'Well I have a representative from Wells Fargo that's in the area that can come and get your debit card.'"

The victim gave the caller her address and someone arrived a short time later.

Quinlan said the woman's doors were locked, so she told the scammer where to find a spare key.

"A heavy-set black female comes into the home with a mask, some sort of something covering her face,"  he told FOX 13. "[She] walks up to the female, says, 'Do you have the envelope?' The female says, 'I have it right here.' And she snatches the envelope and runs out."

According to deputies, surveillance cameras recorded two women using the woman's debit card to get money at a Wells Fargo and Wal-Mart in Dade City. Investigators also believe they have surveillance photos of the suspects car.

Detectives also wonder whether this is the first time these women have done this.

"The crime seemed structured, like they had done it before," Quinlan said.

Anyone with information should call the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.