Hialeah Woman Charged With Scamming Elderly
HIALEAH (CBSMiami) - A Hialeah women has been charged with preying on the elderly, allegedly ripping off at least half a dozen people by claiming to have life saving drugs for them that turned out to be very expensive vitamins.
Elvine Lamas, 38, has yet to reach middle age, but Hialeah police said she chose the elderly as her victims in a scheme they claim she has been running for the past year.
Police said Lamas would contact elderly people by phone, possibly posing as an employee of their doctor's office, and claim they needed some life-saving medicine. To make sure they got it, she allegedly told the person that someone from the pharmacy was on the way to their home with the delivery.
They were told to have cash ready, as the delivery person would not accept any other form of payment.
Police said it was Lamas who appeared at their door almost immediately, with a bottle of pills, and demanded hundreds of dollars in cash for the 'medicine.'
After she left with the cash, the victims found the pills were simply vitamins and didn't come from their doctor.
Six victims identified Lamas as the person who delivered the pills and departed with their money, but police believe there may be more victims. Investigators said there are at least 40 complaints about similar crimes in Hialeah in the past year, and they are asking anyone victimized who recognizes Lamas to contact Hialeah Police.
Lamas was charged with Grand Theft and Exploitation of Elderly Persons.
Anyone with information can contact Hialeah Police at 305-687-2525
