Hackers steal the identities of two Surfside apartment victims and withdraw their bank accounts.
Antonio Lozano, 83, and his wife Gladys, 79, died in an apartment collapse on June 24, and their son, Sergio Lozano, said the couple was buried on July 7. On the same day, hackers withdrew funds from accounts opened in their names. Surfside mayor says more apartment collapse victims have been hacked.
About 2.5 million deceased identity thefts occur each year in the United States.
The hackers stole their identity to open fraudulent credit cards and bank accounts and withdraw cash at their funerals.
Antonio Lozano, 83, and his wife Gladys, 79, were in bed before 1:30 a.m. on June 24 inside Unit 903 at Champlain's South Towers when the building collapsed.
Their bodies were identified on June 26 by DNA matching. A sample was presented by their son, Sergio, who lives across the street from the collapsed apartment.
According to Sergio, the hackers used his parents' names to fill out a change of address form. Then they opened fake bank accounts and credit cards. Thieves used the Zelle digital payment app to withdraw money from their bank accounts. The withdrawal took place on July 7 - the day of the funerals of Lozanus.
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