Sunrise Retirement Community Victimized By Credit Card Scammers

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SUNRISE (CBSMiami) -- Detectives are searching for a group of suspects believed to have conned as many as 30 victims over a two-week period out of their debit and credit cards.

Sunrise Police released a picture of a person they are looking for in connection to the crime and say surveillance video shows two women making cash withdrawals and buying a big screen television with a stolen card.

"I think that's awful," said Michael Semko, 84, just one of the dozens of victims at the Sunrise Lakes Retirement community.

The retirees were called by people claiming to be fraud investigators from banks.

"They said they are going to send someone over to take my card and reprogram it and me like a stupid jerk said ok. That was because I just got up from a nap," said Semko.

He was told his card would be returned. Instead, it was used to charge $800 worth of items.

"How they got my PIN number, I don't now. Maybe it was on the back of my card," he wondered.

Another victim, Karen Woodward, said the same thing happened to her.

"I got a phone call and they said they were a fraud investigator," Woodward recalled.

She also got a visit from one of the suspects to her apartment, claiming her debit card needed to be "re-chipped."

"I wasn't going to give it to her but she took it and ran," said Woodward. "They used it to go to Wal-mart and the ATM and took about $1,000 worth of stuff."

She, too, has no idea how the thieves accessed her security PIN.

"I don't know how they got that and the last four numbers of my social," she said.

Police are trying to figure that out, as well.

"It's surprising but they are very committed to the scam and they sound very convincing," said Det. Jason Zinn of Sunrise Police. "The best advice I can give is when someone calls saying they are from a bank, saying they want this information, hang up and call your bank to verify everything."

Most victims know the way it works, but the scammers use the opportunity of surprise and catching people off-guard.

"My Bank of America would never call asking for information like this," Semko assured himself.

Authorities said the suspects wore medical scrubs.

"I feel awful about what happened. I was violated and taken in," said Woodward. "I hope they get caught so they can be prosecuted."

Anyone with information is urged to call Broward County Crime Stoppers at (954) 493-TIPS. If a tip leads to an arrest, you may be eligible for a $3,000 reward.