Georgia prison scam costs Central Florida woman $15K, Volusia sheriff says

A Georgia woman was taken into custody in Volusia County this week after a local woman lost $15,000 in a warrant scam, according to the sheriff’s office.In a release, deputies pinned the suspect — identified as Vera Faust, 43, of Athens — as an “associate” of other scammers in Georgia prisons. “She is related to a scumbag who’s serving life for murder up there,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood said. “And her and three other ne’er-do-wells decided they were going to make some phone calls and say they were the Volusia Sheriff’s Office and that there was a warrant out for one of our victims.”Chitwood explained the victim sent $15,000 to scammers, but the Financial Crimes Unit was able to recover nearly all of that money.Faust was the second suspect identified in this scam, with the first — Annie Ashley, 61, from Georgia — being arrested just last week, jail records show.On Wednesday, Chitwood announced a third suspect — Sharod Poellnitz, 18, from Stockbridge, Georgia — had turned himself in. He fac