YBOR CITY, Fla. — The Tampa Police Department arrested a man accused of stealing people's cell phones and gaining access to their bank accounts.
Detectives released surveillance video from a 7-Eleven in Ybor City from an incident in June.
Video shows a man unlocking his phone by entering his passcode and handing his cell phone to a stranger. The suspect appears to make a phone call and walk around the store before walking out the door.
The victim reported fraudulent Cash App money transfers totaling $2,412.
"They'll approach someone who is intoxicated and acts friendly, ask to borrow their phone, and say, 'Hey, I need to make a phone call,'" said Detective Tyler Shue with the Tampa Police Department. "The victim is either not paying attention or isn't going to come after them. They just disappear into the night. The phone is unlocked. Most of the victims don't seem to password protect their apps because they think their phone is secure."
Tampa Police arrested Reginald Pierre Perry for numerous charges, including organized fraud of $20,000 to $50,000, fraudulent use of a credit card, robbery by sudden snatching, and robbery with a weapon.
Detectives connected Pierre Perry to at least four cases, including the incident from June at the 7-Eleven in Ybor City.
He is also connected to another incident in February, according to police.
Court records indicated the suspect approached a victim standing in front of Centro Ybor, tending to a friend who was throwing up. The suspect showed a knife, held it to the victim's stomach and demanded the victim hand over his cellphone, according to court records. Records indicate the victim complied and days later noticed fraudulent Cash App transfers.
In April, another victim was leaving a bar and was approached by several suspects along North 15th Street in Ybor City. The 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 and reported a total loss of $18,193.55.
The combined loss of all the victims in the four cases is $39,752.21, according to court records.
Shue urges people to never loan their phone to someone who asks to make a phone call.
"Don't loan your phone to people. I hate to say that because all my victims are obviously generous people," he said. "Just don't loan your phone, tell them to go to a convenience store, tell them to flag down an officer, we can help."
He also urges people to protect all financial apps.
"For one, password protect your phone and password protect all your financial apps. Don't use the same pin for CashApp as you would use to get into your iPhone," said Shue.
TPD is investigating between 40 to 50 similar cases and expects more arrests to be made.
