CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A man is wanted in Clayton County after unwittingly trying to scam the sheriff out of his social security number over the phone.
Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill said Saturday after playing along with the scam, he traced the number to a South Carolina man who's wanted in that state for failure to pay child support.
Now, according to Hill, that man - Anthony Clark Jr. - is on the run.
Hill said it started when he received a call on his county-issued phone on Friday "from a man who claimed he was an investigator with the federal government."
He claimed to be sorting out the fraudulent use of the sheriff's social security number.
According to the sheriff, he gave Clark fake information, and then "the man exclaimed he did have a file under the false name, false date of birth and false SSN digits."
The sheriff said Clark even gave him a fake case number.
The scam went further, according to Hill: Clark asked him if lost his wallet, which Hill said he'd done, which resulted in "the scam artist ... scolding the sheriff for not filing a police report."
Clark then allegedly told the sheriff his social security number had been used to rent a car in Texas that was involved in a murder, and he was now wanted by the FBI and U.S. Marshals. He told Hill the warrants were on hold, however, while he could work things out for him - which apparently required credit card information.
"When the man asked the Sheriff for his credit card information, the conversation went downhill," Hill said. "The man called the Sheriff a son of b**** before hanging up."
At that point, Hill found Clark through the phone number and within an hour sent deputies to his last known address, which was in Henry County.
Neighbors said he'd moved just a week before, however, and now his location is unknown.
Hill said he called and texted Clark back at the number "advising him that it would be wise to leave Georgia and get a legitimate job to support his kids instead of scamming innocent people out of their money."
Remarkably, Clark called back, "trying to explain his way out of what he did."
The explanation was not evidently convincing. Hill's office is seeking to apprehend Clark and send him back to South Carolina.
They're asking anyone with information about where he might be to call 770-477-4477.
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