People at Lowe's Sporting Goods in London and Corbin knew something wasn't right when a man came into their store a few weeks ago asking about basketball.

“He was just nervous. He was just unaware of what he really wanted,” says Christy Babb of the Lowe’s in London.

What the man wanted, police say is to scam people out of hundreds of dollars. Police say he told business owners he needed money to sponsor basketball leagues.

“He received partial payment and then he would go to the sporting good store and have a shirt made,” says Corbin Police Capt. Tim Helton.

That’s when a red flag went up for Babb. People don't buy just one or two shirts for a whole team he says.

“That kinda’ threw me off because he was, he told us it was for a game, the shirts would be used for a game, but there were no numbers on there, they couldn't be used for a game,” says Babb.

Police say each victim lost about $500. The suspect collected between $5,000 and $10,000.

Officers say the bottom line is: the man was collecting money for a fake basketball league. Now, people are out of money and police want to arrest this man.

“If he's arrested, charged, restitution will be part of it,” says Capt. Helton.

If he's caught, police say the man will face a felony charge of theft by deception for each time he bilked someone out of their money.