Destiny Blake, a 24-year-old American Airlines flight attendant from Brooklyn, New York, was arrested at Miami International Airport on October 23, 2026. Authorities accuse her of orchestrating a fake sweepstakes scheme that defrauded a 75-year-old Florida resident of approximately $25,310 using employee travel perks and unauthorized credit card charges.
The investigation into the Palm Coast resident began after the victim received an unexpected telephone call in November 2025. The caller, posing as a representative for Publishers Clearing House, informed the 75-year-old woman that she had won a prize. To collect her winnings, the victim was directed to mail a $500 gift card to Destiny Blake at a Brooklyn address.
Within the same timeframe, the victim lost access to her email account. Investigators determined that the account password and recovery details had been altered to resemble a lookalike address she had never created. Between November 15 and November 19, 2025, the woman withdrew more than $14,000 from her bank account. Detectives later calculated that Blake personally received $14,220 through a combination of cash withdrawals and Zelle transfers.
Standby Travel and the Palm Coast Visit
Investigators uncovered that the flight attendant utilized her employee travel privileges to visit the victim in person. She took an Uber to a hotel along State Road 100 in Palm Coast for the night.
The following morning, another vehicle dropped Blake off outside the victim’s residence just before 11 a.m. She spent roughly 15 minutes inside before taking another Uber back to the Daytona Beach airport. Financial records indicate that the victim’s credit cards were subsequently used for purchases at airports in Daytona Beach and Charlotte during Blake’s return journey to New York.
Most flight attendants use their benefits to see the world. Blake used hers to further a scam against a senior resident, live a lavish lifestyle using stolen bank cards and thinking she could get away with it. Her wings were clipped by our detectives and with the help of CPB she was arrested. Her next trip? Flagler County to be held accountable for her crimes.
Sheriff Rick Staly, Flagler County Sheriff’s Office
Digital Footprint and the Granddaughter Note
The fraud began to unravel when a family member discovered a handwritten instruction sheet inside the victim’s home. The note instructed the elderly resident to call her credit card company and state that Blake was her granddaughter with full permission to use the account. Detectives confirmed that Blake had indeed been issued an Apple Card as an authorized user on the victim’s account, tying her various names such as Dessy Cakes, Destiny Buckley, and Destiny Blake to the statements.
Between November 16 and December 11, 2025, investigators identified 88 unauthorized credit card transactions totaling $10,590.30. The purchases included a $1,740.91 eBay order shipped to Blake’s Brooklyn apartment, $1,523.16 in Apple products, a $1,012.49 T-Mobile web order, a $272.19 UGG purchase, a $235.75 charge to A La Mode Hair salon in Brooklyn, a $125 charge to Target, a $158 charge to Macy’s, a $129 charge to Victoria’s Secret, and numerous Uber and Uber Eats orders. Detectives linked the transactions using financial records, cellphone location data, online purchase information, and surveillance footage showing a woman using the card at a supermarket in Queens, New York.
Arrest at Miami International Airport
Following a formal investigation, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office secured an arrest warrant for Blake on October 13, 2026, with bond set at $30,000 under case 2026 CF 000910. On October 23, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers took Blake into custody at Miami International Airport after she arrived on an international flight.
Blake was booked into the Miami-Dade County jail on multiple felony charges, including an organized scheme to defraud more than $20,000 from a victim aged 65 or older, fraudulent use of personal identification information involving a person aged 60 or older, and grand theft of more than $20,000. She was subsequently released on a $30,000 bond pending further court action before the Seventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, with her arraignment scheduled for November 24.
