The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office has recently received a report of cell phone account fraud. The victim’s Verizon cell phone stopped functioning. When the victim contacted Verizon to report the inoperative cell phone the victim was told the cell phone was upgraded, additional phones purchased, the primary account information and the telephone numbers were all changed. The only information not changed on the account was the victim’s social security number and credit card billing information. Further investigation revealed the upgrade and account change occurred at a retail store in New York, New York. The victim explained to Verizon that he was not in New York, did not purchase new cell phones nor did he authorize any changes to the account.
The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind citizens to closely monitor their wireless accounts. Many wireless carriers will contact account holder via text message or email when changes to accounts are made. Any unusual activity or unauthorized changes to cell phone accounts should be reported immediately to the wireless carrier’s fraud department and the local police.