Two women and one man of South Florida have been arrested and charged with identity theft and fraud after they stole the identity of at least one victim of the horrific Surfside condominium collapse earlier this summer.

At a news conference Thursday, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced that Betsy Alejandra Cacho-Medina, 30, Kimberly Michelle Johnson, 34, and Rodney Choute, 38, were behind the elaborate scheme that was intended to victimize individuals who were easy targets. The state’s attorney described the thieves as "cyber grave robbers” who moved “very quickly after the collapse to grab what they could while family and friends were in absolute emotional turmoil."

Prosecutors explain that in circumstances where an individual is incapacitated or even deceased, thieves can be motivated to commit crimes like identity theft because there are fewer obstacles that stand in their way.

Authorities were made aware of the identity theft after Nicole Ortiz, the sister of Ana Ortiz, a victim of the tower collapse, reported suspicious activity on her sister’s bank account. The night before her sister’s funeral, Nicole noticed a slew of emails popping up on her sister’s iPad. The emails detailed changes to Ortiz’s bank accounts and credit cards including password changes and updated address and contact information.

Ortiz shared with the Miami Herald, “I was home writing the eulogy. I don’t know why, but I looked down. I saw notifications from Wells Fargo. I saw emails with money transfers. I didn’t even know she had a Wells Fargo account. It was crazy. These people are professional. Who would do something like this?”

Cacho Medina is believed to be the ringleader behind the fraud. Authorities identified Choute as her boyfriend and Johnson as her associate. Together, the three perpetrated an elaborate scheme where they used a vacant home’s mailbox as the new mailing address to have sensitive documents pertaining to Ortiz’s account sent.

Cacho Medina even went as far as calling a financial institution pretending to be Ortiz in order to steal Ortiz’s identity. The call, which was recorded, allegedly has Cacho Medina explaining she was a victim of the Surfside condo collapse. Cacho Medina can be heard telling an employee, “All my belongings were in there.”

Authorities say that the three perpetrators used Ana Ortiz’s information to commit a slew of fraudulent purchases totaling $45,000. The pair tried but were unstressful in trying to secure another $67,000.

The thieves used the money they were able to get their hands on to purchase expensive handbags, shoes, and other high-end merchandise. In one instance, authorities say in an affidavit that Cacho Medina used the stolen identity to purchase a pair of $374 sandals from Nordstroms and a $1,658 Versace purse at Miami’s Design District. Footage from Bloomingdale’s shows Cacho Medina carrying around the designer bag. She also spent another $2,500 on merchandise at the store.

Ana Ortiz is one of seven Surfside victims who have had their identity stolen following the tragic tower collapse. Five of the victims perished in the collapse including Ana Ortiz’s husband Frankie Kleiman and residents Gladys and Antonio Lozano. The other victims have not yet been identified.

Sergio Lozano, the son of Gladys and Antonio Lozano, was made aware that his parents were victims of the crime after a series of wire transfers using the Bank of America app, Zelle, were made from his parents’ account. “I don’t find a more despicable crime than stealing from the dead,“ Lozano shared of what happened to his parents.

Authorities explain that the investigation is ongoing and that additional victims could be identified. The depth of the theft is being investigated by local law enforcement with the help of U.S. Marshals, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Secret Service.