Scam Alert - Bogus AT and T Caller

Matt Boster

Viewed: 4267

Posted by: Matt Boster
Date: Jan 29 2019 4:18 PM

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office wants to make you aware of a scam that has been reported in our area. The victim recently received a phone call and the caller indicated he worked with AT&T. He advised he was calling to inform him of an expected service interruption, which would last approximately 20 minutes.

The alleged interruption was so the service could be updated from 4G to 5G service. The caller indicated the victim would receive an automatic AT&T message with a pin, which the caller needed to complete the update on his phone. The victim received the message (which was formatted like AT&T’s actual automated messages) and provided the pin to the caller.

A short time later, his and his wife’s phone went out of service. The victim then received a call from their banks fraud department, who indicated they noticed 3 unusual charges on their account, made through the victim’s wife’s card, from AT&T.

The total amount was for $1,504.00. It was discovered the charges were made from Dallas, Texas. The victim contacted AT&T through another person’s phone and was ultimately informed the phone number the caller called from, which was 1 (888) 333-6651, was flagged in their system as fraudulent.

The phone’s had been completely removed from the account and had to be reactivated on the account. The charges were from someone purchasing new phones and adding them to the account.

<- back