Reports tell us that the Tampa Police Department arrested a man who stole peoples phones in Ybor and gained access to their bank accounts. Reginald Pierre Perry has been arrested on numerous charges. He’s received a charge of organized fraud of $20,000 to $50,000, robbery by sudden snatching, robbery with a weapon and fraudulent use of a credit card.
Back in June, Perry was caught receiving a phone from a stranger. He took the phone, made a call and then walked out of store. Perry ended up sending himself a cash app totaling $2,412.
Ybor Phone Scam
Detectives want us to Beware of the Ybor phone scam. Someone will approach you and ask to borrow your phone to make a phone call. Once you are not paying attention, they will Cash App or Apple Pay themselves money. Since it’s Ybor, the person who is letting them borrow their phone will likely be intoxicated and won’t know money is missing until the next morning.
Police also connected Perry to other cases in Ybor. In February he went up to a victim who was helping another friend that was sick. He put a knife up to her stomach and demanded he see her phone. Days later, the victim noticed that Perry had cash app’d himself money.
In April, another victim was leaving a bar and was approached by several suspects. Perry and other males ordered the victim to hand over his phone, wallet and an 18k gold family heirloom class ring. The victim later discovered multiple charges to his credit cards totaling $4,909. He reported a loss of over 18K.
Please be cautious when letting others use your phone. Has this ever happened to you or anyone you know? I know it happened in other parts of Florida, bu know it’s hit Ybor. Feel free to email me Babs@wild941.com
