On Monday, Deputy John Coley received a request to call the complainant in reference to possible fraud. Coley spoke with the complainant over the phone and then went to his home to gather more information for a report.

The victim said he received two pieces of mail at his address by the name of “Benjamin G. Brown”. The first piece was from The University of Tennessee, with the second from Regions Bank. The victim said he doesn’t know anyone by that name and he purchased the house 12 years ago from a different person altogether.

No one by the name of “Benjamin G. Brown” lives there now or ever. He is concerned that someone may be trying to steal his title or deed. Coley told the victim to keep close tabs on his bank accounts and maintain all proofs of ownership of his home and belongings.

A report would be completed to document the incident and be available in the event of any future incidents.

This incident seems to fall under a new type of scam making the rounds across the country over the past year or so called a ‘brushing scam’. A brushing scam is defined by LifeLock in the following paragraph from their website:

Brushing scams are a type of e-commerce fraud that involve scammers sending packages to people that they never ordered. Using other people’s names and addresses, brushing scammers sign up for accounts on online marketplaces, send unsolicited packages to those addresses, and then post fake reviews to make their products look like they’re widely used.