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Palm Coast woman’s alleged $25,310 sweepstakes scam leads to arrest at Miami airport
A Brooklyn flight attendant was arrested after arriving on an international flight, accused of helping defraud a 75-year-old Palm Coast resident through a fake prize offer and unauthorized purchases. She was released on $30,000 bond while facing three felony charges, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
A 24-year-old Brooklyn flight attendant was arrested at Miami International Airport after investigators accused her of helping take about $25,310 from a 75-year-old Palm Coast woman in a sweepstakes scam.
Destiny Blake was arrested late Friday on a Flagler County warrant as she arrived on an international flight, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said. She faces charges of organizing a scheme to defraud a person 65 or older of more than $20,000, fraudulently using identification information belonging to a person 60 or older, and grand theft of more than $20,000. The charges are allegations, and the case has not been decided in court.
According to an arrest affidavit, the woman received a call in November 2025 from someone claiming to represent Publishers Clearing House and saying she had won a prize. The caller instructed her to mail a $500 gift card to Blake at a Brooklyn address. The woman’s email account was later taken over after its password and recovery information were changed, the affidavit says.
Investigators allege Blake received $14,220 from the woman in cash and Zelle payments. The affidavit also details 88 unauthorized credit-card charges totaling $10,590.30 between Nov. 16 and Dec. 11, 2025.
Among the listed transactions were an eBay order for $1,740.91 sent to Blake’s Brooklyn address, $1,523.16 in Apple purchases and a $1,012.49 T-Mobile order. Other charges included purchases at a hair salon and retail stores, along with Uber rides and Uber Eats orders. One Uber charge was billed in Jamaican dollars in Kingston, the affidavit says.
The affidavit alleges Blake used flight-attendant travel benefits to fly from New York to Daytona Beach on Nov. 18, then took an Uber to Palm Coast. Investigators say she was driven to the woman’s home the following morning and picked up about 15 minutes later.
Investigators also cited an eBay order made using Blake’s name, email address and phone number, surveillance video showing a woman using the victim’s card at a Queens supermarket, and cellphone data that they say placed Blake’s phone near stores on dates when transactions occurred.
“Most flight attendants use their benefits to see the world. Blake used her’s to further a scam against a senior resident,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in a statement, adding that detectives and U.S. Customs and Border Protection assisted with the arrest.
Blake was booked into the Miami-Dade County jail and later released on $30,000 bond, the sheriff’s office said. The arrest warrant was issued Oct. 13.