Law enforcement officers on Whidbey are warning residents to be wary of fraudulent schemes being regularly carried out by scammers.
Whether through mail, email, phone or social media networks, there are a variety of scams that take advantage of vulnerable community members by asking for money. Some prey on a desire for connection, while others promise an exorbitant amount of money in return.
Chris Garden, an administrative sergeant with the Island County Sheriff’s Office, said lonely and elderly adults are most susceptible. Often, they are separated from their family or their significant other has passed away. The sheriff’s office currently receives a referral for this type of fraud about once a week, but he suspects more might go unreported.
“Generally, it’s an embarrassing thing so people don’t want to talk about it,” he said.
He has heard of victims sending gift cards and money transfers to fictitious people such as movie stars, generals and secret spies. For example, one woman genuinely believed she was helping pay Johnny Depp’s medical bills. Another person was convinced a general from Syria was going to marry her and she just had to pay for his plane ticket to America.
Garden personally worked with an Oak Harbor woman who received some mail that told her she won a lottery in Las Vegas for $2.5 million, and she just had to give $2,500 in order to get her ticket sent to her. Though she’d never been to Vegas, the woman told Garden she couldn’t take the chance of losing $2.5 million if it turned out to be real.
In some extreme cases, people are in danger of losing their life savings and homes to the scams. The county’s outreach behavioral health co-responder worked with a South Whidbey resident who had sunk $200,000 to $300,000 into a landscaping scam. Detectives are currently investigating the case to see if any of the money can be returned. A few years ago in Coupeville, an individual paid well over half a million dollars for a convoluted scam that claimed to involve smuggling jewels out of Germany.
As unbelievable as they may sound, people continue to fall victim to the scams.
“Scams have always been an issue, but I think the availability and the quick access is what has increased,” Garden said, referring to the internet and how easy it is to reach multiple people at once.
He advises people to regularly check in with their family members who may be living on their own and to be more involved in their lives. Being more cautious about unknown phone numbers is also a good idea, as well as not replying to someone on the internet that you don’t recognize.
“If you have any doubt or question, call the sheriff’s office and we’ll come out and talk with you about it, or we’ll have our co-responder come out and talk to you about it,” Garden said.
In a recent public notice, Langley Police Chief Tavier Wasser informed citizens about a scam involving false claims of winning a “cash prize” from the U.S. Deputy Sheriff’s Association.
“These scammers are contacting residents via mail claiming that the recipient has been entered to win,” Wasser stated. “They are asking for ‘tax-deductible’ ‘gifts’ for a chance to win fake prizes.”
The notice advised citizens against sharing personal or financial information with unknown callers or online contacts and against sending money or purchasing gift cards as part of any prize claim. The legitimacy of any prize or contest should also be verified by contacting the organization through official channels, and suspicious activity should be reported to the police department immediately, according to the notice.
