Two Memphis suspects have been charged with identity theft and theft of property after a scam in which they allegedly stole at least $500,000 from AT&T customers.
According to Fox 13, Brandon Danley and Taryn Watson took part in a scheme where they called AT&T call centers and posed as AT&T employees. After obtaining customer information, they would contact AT&T customer service and ask for the victims’ cell phone numbers to be forwarded to a different cell provider, which was usually T-Mobile. Once that happened, Danley and Watson were in control of the phone numbers and could access money apps, like Cash App, PayPal, and Venmo. They then could move the money around, ultimately sending it to their personal bank accounts.
Memphis police launched an investigation after, in late January, an AT&T investigator discovered that a man and woman were calling AT&T call centers and pretending to be employees. The pair somehow got their hands on real AT&T employee ID numbers, though it’s unclear how.
The AT&T investigator gave the phone numbers most used in the scam to authorities—and those numbers were tracked to an address in Memphis. Police executed a search warrant on Danley and Watson’s home on Feb. 10, where they discovered five cell phones, information for multiple bank accounts, two commercial-grade money counting devices, and more than 300 W2s from casino winnings.
Even though they were being investigated, the pair still continued their scheme, victimizing at least another nine AT&T customers. During the course of the scam, Danley and Watson stole from at least 69 people, though that number is anticipated to be more. Danley also reportedly put in more than $1 million in cash at a Memphis casino in January 2020.
