How it started
According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, it began in November 2025 with a phone call. The caller said they were with Publishers Clearing House and told the woman she had won.
To collect her “winnings,” she was told to mail a $500 gift card to a woman named “Destiny Blake” at an address in Brooklyn, New York. She did.
That was just the start.
It got bigger
The sheriff’s office says that during the scam, the woman was also locked out of her own email. Her password had been changed, and her account switched to a look-alike address she never created.
Between November 15 and 19, 2025, she withdrew more than $14,000 from her bank. Investigators say Blake received $14,220 in cash and Zelle payments.
The doorstep visit
This is the part that makes the case unusual.
Investigators say that on November 18, 2025, Blake flew from New York to Daytona Beach as a standby passenger, using her flight attendant travel benefits. She took an Uber to a hotel in Palm Coast.
The next morning, according to the sheriff’s office, an Uber dropped her at the woman’s home just before 11 a.m. About 15 minutes later, another Uber picked her up and took her back to the Daytona Beach airport.
The credit card
Detectives say Blake had been given her own Apple Card as an “authorized user” on the woman’s account.
A family member later found a note in the woman’s home. According to the sheriff’s office, it told her to call the card company and say Blake was her granddaughter and was allowed to use the card.
Between November 16 and December 11, 2025, the sheriff’s office says, 88 charges totaling $10,590.30 were made on the woman’s credit cards. They included a $1,740.91 eBay order shipped to Blake’s Brooklyn address and $1,523.16 in Apple products.
Investigators also point to surveillance video of a woman using the victim’s card at a supermarket in Queens, New York, and phone location data that they say placed Blake’s phone near the stores on the days of the charges.
In all, the sheriff’s office says the woman lost about $25,310.
The arrest
Detectives got an arrest warrant on October 13, 2026. On Friday, October 23, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested Destiny Blake, 24, of Brooklyn, as she arrived at Miami International Airport on an international flight, the sheriff’s office says. It identifies her as an American Airlines flight attendant.
She faces three charges: an organized scheme to defraud a person 65 or older of more than $20,000; fraudulent use of personal identification information of a person 60 or older; and grand theft over $20,000. She was released from the Miami-Dade County jail on a $30,000 bond.
These are accusations. She has not been convicted, and she is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly didn’t hold back: “Most flight attendants use their benefits to see the world. Blake used her’s to further a scam against a senior resident.” He added, “Her wings were clipped by our detectives.”
The one rule that beats this scam
Publishers Clearing House says it plainly: the real PCH will never call you or ask you to pay money to enter or claim a prize. No purchase or fee is ever required to win.
So if the phone rings with prize news:
- Hang up. You don’t need to be polite, and you don’t need to explain.
- Never pay to collect a prize. Not with a gift card, cash, a bank transfer or an app like Zelle. A real prize doesn’t cost you anything.
- Never let a stranger come to your home to pick up money or a card, no matter how friendly they sound.
- Never add anyone to your credit card because a caller asked you to, and never agree to “say they’re your granddaughter.”
- Tell someone you trust. Scammers often ask you to keep things secret. That’s a red flag on its own.
Where to get help
- Report scams to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Publishers Clearing House sends scam reports there too.
- U.S. Justice Department National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-372-8311 (1-833-FRAUD-11).
- In Florida, suspected financial exploitation can be reported to the Florida Abuse Hotline at 1-800-962-2873 (1-800-96-ABUSE), 24 hours a day.
- The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office posts safety steps for families at flaglersheriff.com/senior-safety.
Sources
- Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, “Flight Attendant Who Flew Standby to Scam Palm Coast Senior Arrested at Miami Airport” (release #2026-231), Oct. 27, 2026: flaglersheriff.com
- News4JAX, “New York flight attendant accused of scamming Palm Coast senior out of $25K arrested at Miami airport,” Jonathan Lundy, Oct. 27, 2026: news4jax.com
- Publishers Clearing House, scam prevention: scamreport.pch.com
- FTC fraud reporting: reportfraud.ftc.gov