Morrisville Police arrest 2 in ongoing cell-phone scam
MORRISVILLE, North Carolina (WTVD) -- Morrisville Police pulled the plug Monday on a cell phone scam involving fraudulent activity with Sprint accounts.
With the help of Sprint, Morrisville detectives arrested two people in an undercover operation.
In the past two weeks, there had been reports filed in Morrisville regarding problems with Sprint accounts.
According to Morrisville Police, the scam worked like this:
- After stealing the victim's information, suspects place an order for multiple iPhones and have them shipped to the victim's address, without their knowledge.
- Suspects send someone out to the address to steal the package containing the phones from the victim's front porch soon after delivery.
- Therefore, the victims are unaware of this fraud until they receive a bill in the mail for the phones that they never ordered.
On Monday, detectives arrested Deion Brown, 25, of North Chesterfield, Virginia, and Sasha A. Barnett, 27, of Brooklyn, New York.
Brown was charged with felony larceny, fleeing to elude, and no operator's license. Barnett was charged with felony larceny.
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So far, detectives have identified nearly $50,000 in attempted equipment fraud and $43,000 in actual equipment fraud loss.
The investigation is ongoing.
Morrisville Police Department urges residents to examine their monthly phone bills and report any suspicious charges to your cellular provider and to the Police Department.
