WINK Investigates Reporter Ryan Kruger
•9/2/2026
MARCO ISLAND, Fla. (WINK)— A Marco Island woman is warning her neighbors after she says fraudsters took her for nearly $50,000.
The case shows how some cyber crooks are using new techniques to get around state law.
An 80-year-old widow received a concerning text message on a Friday afternoon in April.
The fraudster convinced her there was a problem with all of her accounts and instructed her to send three different wire transfers totaling $49,500.
When the teller at the bank asked why she needed to send so much money, she had been coached on what to say.
"I was instructed to tell him it was for personal reasons from the fraudster, who also said, 'I can't discuss this with anyone, not my family, not anyone at the bank,'" she said.
WINK Investigates is not identifying the woman because she is embarrassed and still shaken by the incident.
"I thought I was having a heart attack with what happened at the bank," she said.
Lawmakers put new protections in place to try to slow down the crooks, but the schemes keep evolving.
Florida's Protection of Specified Adults Law allows banks and financial institutions to delay transactions up to 45 days if they believe an elderly person is being defrauded. But that didn't happen in this case, because the account she transferred all that money to had her name on it—the fraudsters stayed one step ahead of the law.
The victim realized something was wrong that night. She called her daughter the next morning and learned she had been taken advantage of.
She's certainly not alone. Last year, the FBI says 17,000 Florida seniors were ripped off by fraudsters.
Florida seniors lost more than $700 million to fraudsters last year, according to the FBI.
"I don't want this to happen to anyone else. I don't want anyone else to go through what I've gone through. It's been very stressful," she said.
Experts recommend you never click on a link from someone you don't know. If the person calling you has a sense of urgency, that's another red flag.
