Merdine James hesitated in her car outside a Truist Bank in Stuart holding $1,349 cash.
It was money she needed to pay her mortgage, but it also was money she thought might get a scammer to return her stolen life savings.
“I have one voice telling me to pay the mortgage,” Merdine said. “But another is telling me she’ll give us our money.”
Merdine, 74, and her husband Fritz, 87, who is bedridden and has dementia, fell victim to a yearslong sweepstakes scam that cost them their house, their car, their relationships with family and over $141,000. The couple already was living under financial constraints and declining health when they were cast into homelessness in July 2025.
The Jameses aren’t alone.
Senior scams and homelessness are increasing
The number of older adults scammed out of $10,000 or more in the United States has more than quadrupled since 2020, according to the Federal Trade Commission. With cases piling up, law enforcement has done little to assist them. Seniors are also the fastest growing group facing homelessness, federal data show.
The couple’s families blame them for their plight and have stopped helping them, Merdine said. So the 32-year couple has had to rely on the kindness of strangers: landlords, social workers, church members, a storage unit manager and an assisted living director. Scams don’t affect only the victims — they ripple throughout the community.
“I left Jamaica to come here and work hard,” Merdine said. “I didn’t come here for this.”
Florida couple falls victim to sweepstakes scam
In March 2023, a woman identifying herself as Susan Smith with Publishers Clearing House called the Jameses, claiming they had won a sweepstakes for $4 million, two cars and a truck.
Fritz wanted to use the prize money to help his sister, who lives in California and hit hard times, Merdine said.
But there was a catch. The scammer wanted them to pay fees and taxes before receiving their winnings, and they had to keep it confidential. Because the couple was from Jamaica, the scammer recommended they wire the money there because of the island’s lower tax rate.
The payments started at about $800 to $900 at a time, according to Western Union wire transfer receipts Merdine showed TCPalm.
“The scammer further sent written communications designed to appear as though they originated from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or other official entities,” their police report says.
Stuart couple scammed out of home, life savings
Meanwhile, the scammer got increasingly friendly, asking Merdine questions such as, “How are you feeling today?” and “Did you take your meds, sweety?”
But when Merdine would ask questions, the scammer would grow irate and yell at her, she said. Merdine began to suspect it was a scam about a year in, after she noticed a pattern. The scammer would tell her the money would be ready to pick up at the bank on Fridays, usually after business hours. When she’d arrive, there would be nothing.
Despite her suspicion, Merdine kept sending money in hopes of getting back what she already lost, said Kirstin Mikalauskas, an St. Mary’s Episcopal Church outreach worker who has been helping the couple.
“Merdine is stuck in a loop. Both mentally and in her reality,” Mikalauskas said. “She feels so much shame that she can’t let it go.”
Florida nonprofits struggle to help
The Jameses had one more year left on their mortgage when they lost their home, and Merdine was looking forward to retirement. She worked as a hospice caregiver out of their home, so when they lost it to foreclosure, they lost their primary source of income.
“I just wanted a place to settle in our old age,” Merdine said.
Mikalauskas first met the Jameses Feb. 11 when they came to St. Mary’s seeking help paying for a hotel.
St. Mary’s paid for three nights, and Mikalauskas took it upon herself to sort through the couple’s paperwork. She paid for more hotel nights, backpay for their storage unit through March, and helped place them in an emergency assisted living facility in Port St. Lucie.
Merdine and Fritz were in contact with the scammer until their phone was shut off on Feb. 12 — all those calls to Jamaica racked up $1,650 in fees. Mikalauskas called the AT&T president’s office, got a refund and blocked the scammer’s number. She also helped them file reports, including:
Law enforcement does little to help scam victims
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office told her the crime wasn’t in their jurisdiction and to go to the Stuart Police Department. But that agency said they couldn’t do anything because the couple was now living in Port St. Lucie.
The Port St. Lucie Police Department opened a case, but said it could address only the money lost while they were in Port St. Lucie, not Stuart. When a Port St. Lucie police officer called the scammer’s number, the woman purporting to be Susan Smith started screaming and cursing at him, Mikalauskas said.
“She must feel confident that she won’t be found,” Mikalauskas said.
Getting nowhere with law enforcement, she reached out to these organizations for help with bills and housing:
Florida DCF holding up housing assistance
Adult Protective Services approved a grant for them to stay at a six-bedroom assisted living facility in Port St. Lucie until the end of March.
They hoped to stay there until the Florida Department of Children and Families approved their Medicaid waiver that would allow them to afford more permanent accommodations — which they applied for in February.
With full food service and an on-site nurse, the facility costs $3,600 per person each month. When the grant expired and no word came from DCF, the facility owner offered to take whatever the couple could afford, which was about $1,700 total.
They have been living at the charity of the owner since April 1; and the charity did not stop there.
The person who bought their house after foreclosure allowed them to stay a few extra weeks and helped move their belongings into storage. The storage unit manager gave them a grace period after they couldn’t pay the fees in fall 2025. A thrift store cashier gave Merdine cash for a hotel when she tried to sell an iron for rent money.
“With the wickedness she’s endured, she’s met a lot of good people on her journey,” Mikalauskas said.
The things left behind
One of Fritz’s most prized possessions was a wood bedroom set that he built when he was a carpenter. He does not know it’s in storage, on the verge of auction at any moment. It would be too painful, Merdine said.
The unit contains what little is left of their life: family photographs, paperwork from their family’s migration from Jamaica, and a fine china set that Fritz bought for Merdine.
Their only remaining asset is a burial policy.
What Merdine misses most is not material, but her business.
“I worked so hard my whole life. I never wanted to take a handout,” she said. “I feel like I’m in prison.”
(This story was updated with new information.)
Jack Lemnus is a TCPalm enterprise reporter. Contact him at jack.lemnus@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1345, or follow him on X @JackLemnus.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida seniors scammed out of home, life savings; DCF not helping
Reporting by Jack Lemnus, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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By Jack Lemnus, Treasure Coast Newspapers | USA TODAY Network
