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Couple used AT&T employee IDs to defraud customers, steal millions

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mkeys@thedesk.net

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Police in Tennessee say a pair of thieves misappropriated employee numbers of AT&T workers to steal more than $1 million from the phone company’s customers.

The duo, identified in local news reports as Brandon Danley and Taryn Watson, were arrested by authorities in Memphis after a months-long police investigation.

According to police, Danley and Watson called in to AT&T’s customer and successfully impersonated phone company workers by using real identification numbers of AT&T’s employees.

An AT&T spokesperson told local news station WMC-TV (Channel 5) that neither Danley nor Watson ever worked for the company, and they’re not sure how they were able to get real identification numbers of its workers. But police say the pair were successful in siphoning hundreds of thousands of dollars from customer accounts.

The pair reportedly used their ill-gotten gains to gamble at casinos, according to authorities. A search warrant executed on their home later turned up hundreds of W-2 issued by casinos for their wins as well as banking information and commercial-grade cash counting machines.

Both Daniel and Watson are being held in custody on $2 million bonds.

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys is the award-winning founder and editor of TheDesk.net, an authoritative voice on broadcast and streaming TV, media and tech. With over ten years of experience, he's a recognized expert in broadcast, streaming, and digital media, with work featured in publications such as StreamTV Insider and Digital Content Next, and past roles at Thomson Reuters and Disney-ABC Television Group.
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