ATLANTA — Something seemed odd when a man named Choi James, who claimed to be a special agent with the Department of Defense, walked into a BB&T Bank in Buckhead.
"So people wouldn't ask too many questions, he wore his badge to the bank," said FBI Special Agent Marcus Brackman.
That badge was a fake. And he had several of them.
The FBI said the suspect, later identified as Khoi Nguyen, had 13 fake badges, 13 fake IDs and 22 cellphones. He was also carrying more than $11,000 in cash.
Analysts at BB&T headquarters detected fraud on accounts Nguyen had opened. When he returned to the Buckhead branch, an eagle-eyed employee called law enforcement.
Brackman said Nguyen was using a local college student's identity he likely obtained on the dark web.
"(The identities) are about a dollar apiece now. You can take out loans, hundreds of thousands of dollars, based on those identities," said Brackman. "Just for a buck."
Nguyen pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft. He's currently serving time in federal prison.
MORE HEADLINES