Two Los Angeles men accused of swapping out elderly bank customers' debit cards at ATMs across Lemon Grove now face felony charges after detectives say they bilked at least five local victims out of nearly $6,000. Sergio Romero, 40, and Franklin Florez, 31, allegedly waited in bank parking lots for as long as 45 minutes while scouting for their next target, watching victims punch in their PINs before offering to help and secretly swapping in a fake card.
According to a news release from the San Diego County Sheriff's Office, Romero was booked on charges including elder fraud, robbery, identity theft, grand theft, and resisting or obstructing a peace officer, while Florez was booked on robbery, identity theft, and conspiracy. Florez was apprehended with help from the San Diego Fugitive Task Force. Both men have pleaded not guilty to the multiple felony charges, as reported by Fox 5 San Diego, and are scheduled to return to court on September 3.
Lemon Grove Sheriff's Substation detectives opened the investigation in May after fielding reports of ATM thefts targeting elderly residents, per the same account. Investigators say the suspects used stolen debit cards and PINs to withdraw cash from multiple ATMs, and the five identified Lemon Grove victims ranged in age from about 60 to about 80, with losses per victim running between $100 and more than $2,700.
How the Card-Swap Trick Worked
San Diego County Sheriff's Detective Aaron Catanach said victims usually did not check whether the card handed back to them was actually theirs, letting the scheme go unnoticed until money started disappearing from their accounts. Similar crimes played out in Chula Vista, Carlsbad, and San Diego, the outlet's report notes, with victims mostly older adults over 60. Catanach urged ATM users to shield their PINs and stay alert for anyone looking over their shoulder while withdrawing cash.
Automated license plate readers helped investigators link Romero and Florez to roughly 15 similar crimes throughout San Diego County, according to the same coverage. Wells Fargo fraud officials separately connected the pair to about 15 comparable incidents in Orange and Los Angeles counties, with the men accused of specifically targeting Wells Fargo customers across Southern California. Detectives said at least one suspect may also be connected to additional crimes in Bakersfield and Las Vegas, though that link remains unconfirmed.
Multi-County Losses Top $120,000
Detectives with the Lemon Grove Sheriff's Substation have linked the card-swapping scheme to roughly 15 additional incidents across San Diego County now being investigated by the San Diego Police Department, Chula Vista Police Department, and Carlsbad Police Department, according to Patch. While the five documented Lemon Grove cases totaled $5,990, total losses across the broader Southern California operation reached an estimated $120,000, CBS8 reported. A judge has ordered that the men's faces not be shown in media coverage of their court appearances.
The tactic echoes a pattern seen elsewhere in Southern California. In February, the Los Angeles Police Department issued a public safety alert about a similar two-person ATM distraction scheme, in which one suspect watched a victim enter a PIN while a partner dropped a $20 bill on the ground to create a diversion and swap debit cards, according to CBS News. Around the same time, Hoodline reported that San Diego Police had warned residents about bank jugging near ATMs and outdoor bank branches, and that LAPD had flagged a similar cash-drop scheme hitting Eagle Rock seniors.
A Costly, Ongoing Crisis for Seniors
The arrests land amid a much larger financial reckoning for older residents across the region. San Diego County senior citizens lost an estimated $144 million to financial fraud in 2025, according to District Attorney figures cited in an opinion piece published by the San Diego Union-Tribune. San Diego County's Elder Justice Task Force, a multi-agency coalition formed in 2020, has tracked more than 4,600 victims and $325 million in losses countywide, though it has also recovered more than $9 million for fraud victims through Operation Counter Strike, per reporting from KPBS.
Under California Penal Code Section 368, financial elder abuse applies specifically to victims 65 and older and can be prosecuted as a felony carrying up to four years in state prison, according to legal statutes summarized by the Shouse Law Group. Federal lawmakers have also moved on the issue: the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Financial Exploitation Prevention Act, which would give banks explicit authority to temporarily pause suspicious withdrawals when elder exploitation is suspected, the Union-Tribune reported. The case follows other recent enforcement pushes in the region, including a November 2025 sweep in which the FBI San Diego Elder Justice Task Force arrested 19 suspects tied to a $40 million scam that defrauded more than 500 seniors nationwide.
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