LAKELAND, Florida. – A Lakeland woman is now without more than $400,000 after being targeted by two scammers. It all started when two men called her to tell her she had won the “Publisher’s Clearinghouse contest.”
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Michael Lawrence and co-defendant Max Richards told the victim she had won $3 million from Publisher’s Clearinghouse but had to pay taxes.
“It was an elaborate plan that worked because once again a very elderly lady, who is our victim with early dementia issues, was totally scammed,” Judd explained. “She borrowed money for her retirement and for her stock at Publix.”
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When the duo said that wasn’t enough, she went back to Publix Employees Federal Credit Union for more money. That’s when the staff tried to warn her.
“When she went to write the first check, they asked her, ‘Are you sure you weren’t scammed?’ She said ‘no, I’m buying a boat,'” Judd said.
The sheriff explained that the victim was groomed to say this by Lawrence and Richards.
“Those guys told him they’d interview you when they wrote a big check,” Judd said. “Don’t tell them you won Publisher’s Clearinghouse, because that’s a surprise. Just say you’re buying a boat.”
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She ultimately sent three checks to Alabama worth more than $477,000. Two of those checks were cashed in Lauderdale Lakes. Video from the bank linked detectives to Lawrence.
“The scammers are very good and convincing at what they do. They don’t call them scammers for nothing,” Judd said.
He explained that these cases are extremely difficult for both the detectives and the victim because the money is difficult to trace.
“You’re going to get subpoenas, and then the bank takes its time getting the data back,” Judd said. “The money is gone, a long time ago.”
They were only able to recover $40,000. The sheriff said if someone calls and asks for money via email, text, social media or phone, it’s likely a scam. He hopes to prevent another senior from losing their life savings.
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“They work hard their whole lives for their money,” Judd said. “Now they have debt worth $477,000 against their pension shares.”
Lawrence faces two charges: obtaining property by fraud over $50,000 and theft of $100,000 or more. He had his first appearance Friday, during which the judge issued a $25,000 bond on both charges.
Polk County investigators are still looking for Richards.
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