SUN CITY CENTER, Fla. — More than $300 million was scammed out of seniors in Florida last year, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, making the state the second-highest in the nation for senior fraud. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Federal Bureau of Investigation says Florida ranks No. 2 in elder fraud, costing seniors more than $300 million in 2023 

  • The agency says Florida is a target-rich environment because there are so many retirees living in the state

  • FBI says to never respond to emails you don't recognize, never send money orders, never agree to send money through crypto currency

This can range from emails, phone calls, to in-person scammers.

One such case involves thousands of residents in Sun City Center. Victoria Zerillo, 49, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for wire tape fraud in connection with embezzlement of funds from a senior citizen community.

She pleaded guilty to stealing more than $410,000 in April. 

Zerillo was a general manager of a nonprofit that provided HVAC, appliance and plumbing repair services to members of the senior community. The FBI says that from December 2015 through November 2022, the suspect conspired to commit wire fraud and embezzlement. 

Residents of the community, including Mike Trela, noticed the rates of the service were going up and looked into what was happening. Trela has a background in finance and looked into the finances of the company and discovered Zerillo was missing hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

“She had doctored all the bank statements and when I got the actual bank statements,” Trela said. “I found theft from taking money out of the ATMs, to credit cards that were paid for in her name, businesses set up in her name,” Trela said. 

Trela says it was a huge hit for the community.

“It just shows what can happen in a community when the board trusts people. We do trust people. That’s just a natural thing, especially when you are older, and they trusted her with their life savings. And she betrayed that trust ... she got away with it,” Trela said. 

Trela says that a good portion of the money was recovered through insurance. However, he says the trust he once had is shattered and he now remains on guard.