Charlotte County cancer patient scammed out of her medical funds

A cancer patient who needs every penny to pay for treatments was scammed out of $2,000. She reached out to WINK News, telling us it all started when she thought her phone company and satellite service contacted her.

Sandra Scheel has been battling breast cancer for nearly 12 months. It is something she calls a physical and financial fight.

The expenditure was on her mind when she received a phone call and a text message last week from a man claiming to be from DIRECTV. The person said the company was having a promotion with eBay and offered her a lower monthly rate with premium channels if she paid $400 in eBay gift cards.

“I said, ‘oh gosh!'” Scheel said. “Anything to save money because I have some medical bills with my cancer and I thought this was a great deal.”

Scheel got the gift cards and the channels were there. The caller offered her more deals. He said they could lower her AT&T bill by 50% for the next three years, if she purchased more eBay gift cards.

Scheel purchased the gift cards, but the caller said there was a problem and asked her to buy more.

“I said, ‘I don’t have any more money,’ and he got really upset,” Scheel said.

That was when Scheel became suspicious. She went back to where she purchased the gift cards. She was told AT&T does not run prepaid promotions. The $1,600 was not applied to her account. Even though she was getting the channels, DIRECTV did not apply the $400.

She said it all seemed so real and her message to you is always to double-check that offers are valid to avoid scammers.

Now, Scheel plans to take her case to the police. She lost $2,000 and is concerned about how she will make ends meet.

“This is two-and-a-half months of money I saved to pay my bills,” Scheel said.