A 24-year-old flight attendant from Brooklyn, New York, was arrested at Miami International Airport after landing on an international flight, accused of helping bilk a 75-year-old Palm Coast woman out of roughly $25,310 in a fake sweepstakes scheme. Destiny Blake now faces felony fraud and theft charges tied to a scam that investigators say stretched from a phone call claiming she’d won a prize to a cross-country trip Blake allegedly took using her own airline travel perks.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested Blake late Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, on a Flagler County warrant as she arrived at the airport, according to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office. Detectives had obtained the warrant for her arrest on Oct. 13, 2026. She was booked into the Miami-Dade County jail and later released on a $30,000 bond, as reported by Observer Local News.
How the Alleged Scam Began
The fraudulent scheme started in November 2025 when a telephone caller posing as a Publishers Clearing House representative told the victim she had won a prize, according to Action News Jax. That caller then instructed the Palm Coast woman to send a $500 gift card to Blake at a Brooklyn address in order to claim the supposed winnings. Investigators say the victim also lost access to her own email account after its password and recovery information were changed, per the arrest affidavit cited in the News4JAX report.
Investigators allege Blake personally collected $14,220 in cash and Zelle payments from the victim between Nov. 15 and Nov. 19, 2025. On Nov. 18, 2025, she used her employee travel privileges to fly standby from New York to Daytona Beach, then rode by Uber toward Palm Coast, the station's report notes. The next morning, an Uber dropped Blake at the victim's home shortly before 11 a.m., and a second Uber picked her up roughly 15 minutes later.
Dozens of Unauthorized Charges Traced to Blake
Beyond the direct cash and Zelle transfers, the victim's credit cards saw 88 unauthorized transactions totaling $10,590.30 between Nov. 16 and Dec. 11, 2025, per the same account. Among the identified purchases were a $1,740.91 eBay order delivered to Blake's Brooklyn address, $1,523.16 in Apple merchandise, a $1,012.49 T-Mobile web order and a $272.19 UGG purchase. Additional charges covered a Brooklyn hair salon, grocery and clothing stores, Uber rides and Uber Eats orders, with one Uber charge billed in Jamaican dollars in Kingston.
The Sheriff's Office said investigators connected Blake to the purchases through online orders made using her name, email address and phone number. The Sheriff's Office said surveillance footage showed a woman using the victim's card at a Queens supermarket, and cellphone data placed Blake's phone near stores on the dates of several transactions.
Sheriff Credits Federal Partners in Arrest
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said Blake used her flight attendant benefits to further the scam and to use stolen bank cards, adding that she was arrested with help from Customs and Border Protection and would be held accountable in Flagler County. Blake faces charges of organized scheme to defraud a person 65 or older of more than $20,000, fraudulent use of personal identification information belonging to a person 60 or older, and grand theft of more than $20,000.
The case is among other reported allegations involving impostors invoking the Publishers Clearing House name to target older victims. Other Florida cases described separately include a South Florida man who reportedly received a fraudulent letter claiming a prize of nearly $2 million, as detailed by CBS12, and a Florida couple held in federal custody over an alleged scheme targeting an elderly victim, according to Fox 56.
