Phoenix woman on the hook for $7,300 in elaborate AT&T phone scam

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A Phoenix woman fell victim to an elaborate phone scam that left her on the hook for nearly $7,300 worth of cell phones after a fraudster posed as an AT&T representative.

Sheryl Johnson had been experiencing trouble with her phone service and mentioned it to an AT&T representative, whom she says she met at a grocery store kiosk.

“He said, ‘I’m so sorry to hear that. Give me your phone number, I’m going to have somebody reach out to you,’” Johnson said.

A few days later, she received a call from someone claiming to be with AT&T.

“Come to find out, he was a scammer, and now AT&T is holding me responsible for $7,500 worth of fraudulent charges on my account,” Johnson said.

How the scam worked

The caller had access to Johnson’s personal information and told her they