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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) — You’ll be thinking about this story when you buy your next cell phone. After all, you’re supposed to trust store employees with your information.
David Brown is ready to break up with his phone.
It takes forever to charge, it freezes up and it runs incredibly slow. So he went to the Walmart on Dickerson Pike.
“I told him that I was looking to get an iPhone and I said what do I need to do, asked Brown.
When the employee needed 2 forms of identification to run a credit check, Brown gave him his driver’s license and his bank card.
“and he did what he did on the computer and then he handed it back to me and said I was approved for 2 lines,” said Brown.
Brown decided it was simply too expensive.
“He had my information, he gave my stuff back and I said you didn’t go through with this, did you? And he said no, no…I didn’t,” said Brown.
But a few weeks later, look what showed up. A bill from Sprint for nearly $500.
Bramson asked, “What did you think when you got that bill? What was going on and how did this happen,” said Brown.
Brown was so upset he filed a police report. Police are now investigating it as fraud.
The News4 I-Team wanted an explanation.
Walmart says they’re still investigating but in a statement said, “We’re continuing to work with our third-party seller to better understand the problem and doing everything we can to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
And all Sprint knows is an account was opened for Brown by a WalMart representative back on December 2nd.
The bill has since been dismissed but leaves Brown wondering if his personal information is floating around somewhere in a computer system.
“Somehow my information was out there and that happened,” said Brown.
Here’s the takeaway from this.
We found out it’s common for places like Walmart to ask for 2 forms of identification when running a credit check but never use your debit card.
Always use a credit card because it’s easier and faster to replace a credit card then it is to close a bank account and open a new one.
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