BARTLETT, TN (abc24.com) - He knows your name, address, telephone number and says he's a deputy who needs your credit card, but the Shelby County Sheriff's Office told abc24.com that no one should give him anything.
According to the Sheriff's office, someone is impersonating a deputy, to try to get credit card information. Shelby County resident, J.C. Penny, reported that on Sunday, October 16, 2011, he answered his phone. On the other end was a man who identified himself as Captain Tyrone Black with the Shelby County Sheriff's Office.
Penny told abc24.com the man made up a lie about fraudulent credit card charges, he then tried to get the credit card number. When Penny wouldnt give it to him, he said the man tried to get him to leave his home to meet him at a house in South East Memphis. Penny did not leave his home, but another woman, who received the same phone call did. Shelby County Sheriff's Office spokesperson, Chip Washington told abc24.com she eventually turned around.
"It would have been so easy for someone who isn't aware of how these things work to give out the wrong information and lose some money. He was in some room with police scanners in the background, I guess he thought that made it official, but it wasn't," said Penny.
"The main point is, we need to stop him before he continues on this path. We need to make people very aware that if anything sounds suspicious, particularly from someone posing as a law enforcement officer, the first thing you need to do is give us a call," Washington told abc24.com.
Washington said the Sheriff's Office will never ask for personal information over the phone.
