![Man Allegedly Scams Old Woman, Buys 11 Guitars, Amps + More With Her Credit Cards](https://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2022/04/attachment-gibson-guitars-wanted-man-volusia-county-florida.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Man Allegedly Scams Old Woman, Buys 11 Guitars, Amps + More With Her Credit Cards
What's with people taking advantage of the elderly? A Florida man is wanted on fraud and theft charges after allegedly scamming an old woman by purchasing 11 guitars, amps, a drum kit and more with her credit cards.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Department in Florida states that the suspect, 49-year-old Mystery Shiloh Demarest, used a 78-year-old woman's credit cards to purchase 11 Gibson Les Pauls, two Marshall reverb boards, seven speakers, a drum set and several music stands, which they found in a storage unit that he'd also charged to her cards, in addition to airfare and a hotel room. The total for the charges was roughly $17,000, and they date all the way back to May of 2019.
Demarest moved into the woman's home that May to assist with household chores and her shopping while she tended to her sick husband, according to the report. Shortly after he moved into her home, several large packages started arriving. Demarest blamed the purchases on his girlfriend, and said he would return everything and seek a refund.
Upon checking her bank statements, the woman noticed charges from GuitarAttic and Reverb, and also noticed she'd been charged for a flight, hotel room and storage facility, the statement adds. The storage facility had been rented with her card days after Demarest said he would return all of the packages.
The woman then found the storage unit online, and discovered that the rent was past due, and it was up for auction. The listing for the unit included photos of what was inside of it — guitar cases and other equipment. Detectives were able to get a search warrant to investigate the unit, and found all of the instruments and gear.
Demarest's location isn't currently known, but the airfare and hotel charges made to the woman's card were for Raleigh, N.C. back in 2019. A LinkedIn profile under the same name also has Raleigh listed as its location.
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