Matthew Santoni, The Examiner
2007-08-24 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

Aberdeen, Md. -

Aberdeen police are warning businesses that callers impersonating police officers have been asking for credit card information as part of a possible identity-theft scheme. Sgt. Fred Budnick said that in the last two days, a man has called local businesses and identified himself as a detective from Aberdeen conducting a fraud investigation and requested names of customers and credit card numbers from recent receipts.

If the business owners raise questions, a second man calling himself “Captain White” takes over the call and requests the same information, Budnick said.

“This is obviously some kind of scam,” Budnick said. Aberdeen police would not solicit such information over the phone, he said.

The Applebee’s on Beard’s Hill Road got two such calls, once at 5:30 Wednesday evening and again Thursday morning, General Manager Glen Hough said. The caller, who identified himself as Detective White, said he had been working a fraud case for six months, had several suspects and was very close to “putting some guys behind bars,” but needed to check credit card numbers, Hough said.

“I said, ‘It’s 5 o’clock and I’m right in the middle of a dinner crowd. I’m very sorry, officer, but aren’t you supposed to come in?’ ” Hough said.

After a friend on the Aberdeen police force told him there was no such detective, Hough reported the second call. A manager at New Ideal Diner on Route 40 said he got a similar call Thursday morning, this time from a man identifying himself as Detective Robert Cracker. The diner employee gave out no information because he had been warned by police Wednesday night. At least four Aberdeen businesses had contacted police to report the unusual calls, Budnick said. It appears the callers have targeted only businesses.

Who to call

Anyone who receives a suspicious call should use Caller ID or dial *69, note the caller’s phone number, then contact Officer Jason Neidig at 410-272-2121.

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com