75-year-old Palm Beach County man loses over $200,000 to SIM-scam fraud after phone number porting by local perpetrator

Summary

A 75-year-old Palm Beach County man lost over $200,000 after falling victim to a SIM-scam orchestrated by a local woman. The scam began on April 10 when the victim received a call from someone posing as an AT&T representative, who convinced him to share a verification code. This allowed the perpetrator to port his phone number to a different carrier, giving them access to his bank and email accounts. The fraud scheme affected over 50 victims nationwide, with stolen phone numbers and personal information documented in a yellow notebook found during a search of the suspect’s home on May 5. The suspect, Kadesa Sayles, 29, was arrested and charged with fraud exceeding $50,000 and two counts of identity theft. Law enforcement also recovered over $15,000 in suspected proceeds from the scam.