Florida Mom and Teen Son Facing Identity Theft Charges in Organized Pyramiding Fraud Scheme

Florida mom Selena Wallace, 38, encouraged her 14-year-old son, Elijah Duett, to pursue a life of crime and commit identity theft by running an organized pyramiding fraud scheme.

On Friday, August 19, the Volusia Sheriff's Office arrested the mom and son for victimizing 17 people across the U.S. after months of investigating the teenager's activities.

In May, the police investigated Duett after he was accused of giving handwritten threats to another student who failed to pay the teenager in his pyramiding scheme. During their investigation, the authorities found that Duett bought stolen personal and financial data like credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, and login information for banks and websites.

The investigators also discovered that Duett has detailed instructions and step-by-step guides on using equipment for forging money, per WFLA.

Mom said her son could use his ability in a legal way

The police issued a search warrant for the family's house and seized several equipment, including 12 laptops, four cellphones, four printers, and several gaming systems. The authorities said that Wallace and Duett had messages of their criminal activities on their phones.

In one conversation, Wallace told her son she hopes he will use his "special abilities" for a legal business one day. However, in another conversation, the mom encouraged his son to raise his prices so he could make better profits.

The teenager had been placed under police custody and will face court for identity theft, illegal use of credit cards, fraud, and unlawful communication device use. On the other hand, his mother had been arrested as the accomplice contributing to the minor's delinquency.

Investigations are still ongoing as the police have reached out to the victims of identity theft. According to WFTV 9, 15 victims said they would press charges against the mom and son.

Commenters on the Volusia Sheriff's Office Facebook page said that the 14-year-old is obviously a very smart kid who made the wrong choices with a mother who condoned his bad behavior. They hoped, however, that he would be tried as an adult and kept in jail for a long time, along with his mom.

Surfside, Florida, victims had their identities stolen

Meanwhile, authorities in Florida have arrested three people in connection to the identity theft involving the victims of the Surfside condominium collapse. Rodney Choute, 38, Kimberly Michelle Johnson, 34, and Betsy Alexandra Cacho Medina, 30, ran a scheme to defraud using the credit cards of four survivors and three dead victims.

According to CBS News, the trio bought dozens of expensive items using credit cards as early as two weeks after the building's collapse. One of the deceased victims' sisters noticed a request for new credit cards mailed to a different address in her financial statements. There were also many unauthorized purchases on the cards after her sibling died.

A fourth person, Nelson Ronaldo Garcia Medina, 20, was also arrested days later. The police said that those arrested were "very skilled identity thieves."