An elderly couple who died in last month’s Surfside condo collapse were targeted by hackers who stole their identity and used it to open fraudulent credit card and bank accounts and withdraw cash on the day of their funeral.
Antonio Lozano, 83, and his wife Gladys, 79, were in bed just before 1:30am on June 24 inside Unit 903 of Champlain Towers South when the building collapsed.
The couple was just a month shy of celebrating their 59th wedding anniversary. They had been together for 68 years.
Their bodies were identified on June 26 through DNA matching after a sample was provided by their son, Sergio, who lives just across the street from the collapsed condo.
According to Sergio, hackers used his parents’ names to fill out a change of address form. They then opened up fraudulent credit card and bank accounts.
Antonio Lozano, 83, and his wife Gladys, 79, were in bed just before 1:30am on June 24 inside Unit 903 of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida when the building collapsed
Sergio Lozano, the couple's son, said that hackers stole his late parents' identities and used the information to open credit card and bank accounts and steal cash
According to Sergio, hackers used his parents’ names to fill out a change of address form. They then opened up fraudulent credit card and bank accounts
The thieves then used the Zelle digital payment app to withdraw money from the accounts. To add insult to injury, the withdrawals were made on July 7 - the day of the Lozanos’ funerals.
'I have an apartment on Champlain East where I could see my mom cooking and my dad watching TV from my apartment, from my terrace,' Sergio told WSVN-TV.
'That Wednesday, the 23rd, was his last day at work, which he was here.
'We had a final dinner together, and they left the apartment at 9:45, and at 1:20 in the morning, it was the collapse.'
Sergio was awakened by what sounded like a loud explosion.
He looked across the street in horror and saw his parents’ building collapsed into a pile of debris with smoke billowing from the ruins.
Moments later, Sergio sprinted toward the wreckage.
‘I grabbed a pair of sneakers and ran down, and I got there with fire rescue and Surfside Police,’ he said.
The thieves then used the Zelle digital payment app to withdraw money from the accounts. To add insult to injury, the withdrawals were made on July 7 - the day of the Lozanos’ funerals
The couple was just a month shy of celebrating their 59th wedding anniversary. They had been together for 68 years
The Lozanos are seen above with their grandson, Sergio Jr (far left), and their granddaughter-in-law Vanessa Lozano (far right)
‘Mom and Dad are dead. The building’s gone.’
Sergio initially bought an apartment upstairs from his parents so that he can keep an eye on them in case of a medical emergency.
He then sold that unit and bought an apartment across the street.
Their bodies were recovered on June 26 two days after the collapse.
The couple was laid to rest on July 7.
In the period leading up to that day, however, hackers were using their information to steal their money, according to Sergio.
'The day of their funeral, they began to process
