PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A Phoenix woman fell victim to an elaborate phone scam that left her on the hook for nearly $7,300 worth of cell phones after a fraudster posed as an AT&T representative.
Sheryl Johnson had been experiencing trouble with her phone service and mentioned it to an AT&T representative, whom she says she met at a grocery store kiosk.
“He said, ‘I’m so sorry to hear that. Give me your phone number, I’m going to have somebody reach out to you,’” Johnson said.
A few days later, she received a call from someone claiming to be with AT&T.
“Come to find out, he was a scammer, and now AT&T is holding me responsible for $7,500 worth of fraudulent charges on my account,” Johnson said.
How the scam worked
The caller had access to Johnson’s personal information and told her they needed to replace her phones due to a widespread issue.
“He had everything. He had all of my information,” Johnson said. “He said, ‘Because we’re having to replace so many phones, we’re having people go purchase phones at the stores.’”
Johnson went to an AT&T store and purchased three phones. She was instructed to send them using a prepaid shipping label to get them unlocked and activated.
Two days later, the scammer called again.
“He says, ‘We received the phones, but they’re damaged,’” Johnson said.
The scammer told her to purchase three more phones with the promise of reimbursement.
“Same deal. ‘Buy three phones, we’ll reimburse you for the cost. And we’ll activate them.’ Admittedly now, in hindsight, I stupidly went down and bought three more phones,” she said.
The scammer called again two days later, saying the phones had arrived and would be unlocked and activated.
“‘And for the inconvenience of all this, we’re going to be crediting your account for your monthly payment,’” Johnson recalled hearing from the scammer. “I received an email saying my bill had been paid.”
The phones never arrived. Johnson later discovered the phones were sent to Las Vegas, not to an AT&T warehouse.
Resolution and investigation
Johnson reported the fraud to the FCC and police, and she filed a fraud claim with AT&T. The claim was initially denied.
After being contacted by On Your Side, AT&T spent several weeks investigating the situation.
“We understand this customer was a victim of a sophisticated scam, something we take very seriously, so we worked with her to make things right with her account,” AT&T said in a statement. “For tips on how to spot scams, please visit AT&T Cyber Aware. Customers who want extra protection for their wireless accounts can also activate Wireless Account Lock and add a passcode for extra security.”
“I’m off the hook for the phones,” Johnson said. “Right now, it says my bill has decreased by $7,240.”
AT&T says it investigates fraud claims as quickly as possible. The company did not respond to On Your Side’s questions about whether it tracked down where the phones were sent or if police became involved.
“I’m happy with where we’re at now, and fingers crossed, this is where we’ll stay,” Johnson said.
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