WARRANT SCAM- Scammers Posing as from the State Supreme Court:

Recently, the Washington State Attorney General's Office issued a warning to the public about scammers posing as being from the Washington State Supreme Court Clerk demanding money and threatening arrest. The scammers seem to be targeting individuals with Hispanic last names.

The scammers use fake caller ID information making it seem like the calls were from the Supreme Court clerk’s office. Callers claimed that they were from the courts or law enforcement. They also threatened arrest if the victim did not send money.

The Attorney General’s Office recommends that if you receive a call like this hang up. Do not given in to high-pressure tactics, threats, or bullying. No one from the Supreme Court will call you to demand payment or threaten arrest.

Also, please let your friends know about this scam, especially if they are Hispanic.

Washington State Attorney General's Office:

http://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/scam-alert-watch-out-scammers-posing-washington-state-supreme-court-clerk

RESHIPPING SCAM- Don’t Become a Money Launderer

The Identity Theft Resource Center has issued a warning about a holiday job scam called the reshipping scam. Their timing of this warning is for the holiday season, but this is a year around scam than can hurt you anytime of the year.  

The scammers recruit people via email, text message, social media or with ads in less than reputable websites. As a “work from home opportunity,” they want you to accept packages, then forward them to addresses specified by the scammer. Often the addresses at out of the country.

The scammer acquires someone else’s bankcard account number either by purchasing it on the dark web or directly from a victim in another scam. Or the scammer acquires a gift card number from a victim from a warrant scam, grandparent scam, IRS scam, etc. The scammer then may use those funds to purchase high end items, not for his own use, but to sell for a profit.

Instead of having the merchandise sent directly to the scammer (who is often out of the country), he has it sent to someone else who forwards it to him or to someone who has purchased the merchandise. You may be asked to pay for the shipping with a promise that the scammer will send you a check or money order for reimbursement.

There are several ways that you can get stuck in this scam. If the scammer sends you a check, it will bounce. The scammer can send you a check for more than he owes you, then tells you to deposit the check, then keep what you are owed and send the difference back. Then the check bounces and you are out the total amount of the check. You could also get stuck with the shipping charges and the purchase price of whatever was in the package. You can also be charged with a crime if the items being transferred are found to be stolen.

The best action to take is to be skeptical of ads or offers that claim easy money for little work.

Identity Theft Resource Center:

https://www.idtheftcenter.org/Scams/holiday-job-or-holiday-fraud-what-is-a-reshipping-scam?utm_content=bufferb7745&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

U.S. Postal Inspection Service:

https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/radDocs/consumer/ReshippingScam.html

Monster.com:

http://inside.monster.com/money-laundering/inside2.aspx

FENTANYL- Fake Xanax Pills Reported with Fentanyl

Snohomish Overdose Prevention on Facebook is warning the public about counterfeit Xanax pills that the Snohomish Regional Drug and Gang Task Force reports seeing in Snohomish County.

 Fentanyl is an extremely potent opioid that can cause an overdose or death in small amounts.

Symptoms of a fentanyl overdose include pinpoint pupils, weak muscles, dizziness, confusion, extreme sleepiness, loss of consciousness, profoundly slowed heartbeat, very low blood pressure, dangerously slowed or stopped breathing, bluish tint to nails and lips.

If you discover someone who you suspect of a fentanyl overdose call 911 immediately. If naloxone is available, apply a dose. More than one dose may be needed to reverse the effects of fentanyl.

The Snohomish Regional Drug and Gang Task Force has been expecting fentanyl to show up in Snohomish County due to its presence in the rest of the U.S. and British Columbia. The task force’s observations demonstrates that fentanyl has arrived in the county.

Snohomish Overdose Prevention:

https://www.facebook.com/NoOverdoseSnoCo/

San Francisco Health Network:

http://www.sfhealthnetwork.org/for-immediate-release-opioid-overdoses-in-sf-caused-by-counterfeit-xanax-pill-containing-fentanyl/

National Institute on Drug Abuse:

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/fentanyl

Drugabuse.com:

https://drugabuse.com/library/fentanyl-overdose/#what-to-do-if-you-overdose-on-fentanyl

SNOHOMISH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE- Crime Prevention Newsletter

The Sheriff’s Office has posted the latest issue of its crime prevention newsletter “Partners in Crime Prevention.” This issue has tips on preventing package theft, protecting your identity during this holiday season, etc.

To see the issue, go to,

Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office:

https://snohomishcountywa.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/5856

OPIOID CRISIS- Washington State’s Response Part 7

The Washington State Attorney General’s Office, Washington State Patrol and the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys have issued a 29-page report with seven recommended goals to reduce illegal opioid use.

The seventh and final goal is to expand access to treatment. It recommends support and expanded statewide and local non-traditional law enforcement approaches, such as drug courts, Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, and embedded social workers.

This goal looks at opioid addiction more as a disease than just a criminal justice problem. As a disease opioid addiction needs treatment. The report points out that there is a shortage of treatment services in Washington State for people entering and leaving the criminal justice system. It also says that there is a shortage in “aftercare” services such as connecting people in recovery to housing and employment.

It points to a 2016 U.S. Surgeon General report that “…nationally just ten percent of Americans facing drug addiction obtain treatment, in part due to limited availability and affordability of services.”

The report encourages continuation of drug courts to use treatment as an alternative to sentencing and supervision when possible. The principle of drug courts "is that treating participants' underlying substance abuse disorder can lower recidivism." Snohomish County has a Family Drug Treatment Court, an Adult Drug Treatment Court and a Juvenile Offender Drug Treatment Court.

Local law enforcement agencies can also help guide opioid addicts toward treatment. In King County the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program diverts people arrested for low-level, non-violent offenses, such as drug possession, minor property crimes, prostitution, etc., into drug treatment and support services instead of into the court system. In Snohomish County, the both the city of Everett and the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office embeds social workers with police officers in its Everett Police Community Outreach and Enforcement Team and the Sheriff’s Office’s Office of Neighborhood’s Homeless Outreach team who find treatment for willing and qualifying homeless.

For the complete report, go to,

Washington State Attorney General’s Office:

http://agportal-s3bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/uploadedfiles/Another/News/Press_Releases/OpioidSummitReport.pdf

The first goal is to increase public awareness about the dangers of opioids (http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/11/opioid-crisis-washington-states-response.html).

The second goal is to prevent addiction by curtailing overprescribing (http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/11/opioid-crisis-washington-states.html).

The third goal is to reduce the illicit use of prescription opioids http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/11/opioid-crisis-washington-states_30.html.

The fourth goal is to disrupt and dismantle organizations responsible for trafficking narcotics  http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/12/opioid-crisis-washington-states.html

The fifth goal is to prevent further increases in overdose deaths from fentanyl

http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/12/opioid-crisis-washington-states_2.html

The sixth goal is to improve overdose reporting and information sharing http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/12/opioid-crisis-washington-states_3.html

OPIOID CRISIS- Washington State’s Response Part 6

The Washington State Attorney General’s Office, Washington State Patrol and the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys have issued a 29-page report with seven recommended goals to reduce illegal opioid use.

The sixth goal is to improve overdose reporting and information sharing. It has three recommendations,

1.      Direct resources toward more timely analysis of samples at the Washington State Toxicology Laboratory.

2.      Require emergency medical service providers to report patient care information, including treatment of overdoses.

3.      Require law enforcement officers to report naloxone administrations.

Data is important to analyzing any situation. Real-time overdose data can help public-health and public safety organizations respond to drug overdose patterns as they happen and to refine their intervention efforts.

Some states have centralized data clearinghouses to collect and disseminate overdose information to law enforcement, treatment and prevention organizations. Currently, the Washington State Toxicology Laboratory within the Washington State Patrol analyzes drug overdose information. It has seen a significant increase in the number of cases submitted for testing. However, there is no centralized statewide testing system in Washington, nor are there requirements for reporting of overdoses by all entities that might be involved with an overdose.

Beginning in July of this year, state legislation requires emergency departments to report overdoses to the state Department of Health (DOH) in real-time. However, as valuable as this information is, the DOH does not receive information about overdoses from emergency medical service providers (fire department EMT’s, etc.) or from local law enforcement.

The report believes that the reporting and testing of drug overdose information should be conducted in real time and should also include emergency medical service providers and law enforcement.

For the complete report, go to,

Washington State Attorney General’s Office:
http://agportal-s3bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/uploadedfiles/Another/News/Press_Releases/OpioidSummitReport.pdf

The first goal is to increase public awareness about the dangers of opioids (http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/11/opioid-crisis-washington-states-response.html).

The second goal is to prevent addiction by curtailing overprescribing (http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/11/opioid-crisis-washington-states.html).

The third goal is to reduce the illicit use of prescription opioids http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/11/opioid-crisis-washington-states_30.html.

The fourth goal is to disrupt and dismantle organizations responsible for trafficking narcotics http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/12/opioid-crisis-washington-states.html

The fifth goal is to prevent further increases in overdose deaths from fentanyl

http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/12/opioid-crisis-washington-states_2.html

OPIOID CRISIS- Washington State’s Response Part 5

The Washington State Attorney General’s Office, Washington State Patrol and the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys have issued a 29-page report with seven recommended goals to reduce illegal opioid use.

The fifth goal wants to prevent further increases in overdose deaths from fentanyl. Its recommendation is to adopt enhanced criminal penalties for trafficking of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid which can be deadly in small doses. In the Seattle area, fentanyl has been found in what looks like prescription pills that have been purchased illicitly. In other parts of the country, fentanyl has been added to low-grade batches of heroin which is sold as more a potent drug to increase the drug pusher’s profits. When drugs are adulterated with fentanyl the buyers do not know how much fentanyl is in the drug or even if there is fentanyl at all.

A May 2017 study from the Washington State Department of Health (“Fentanyl Overdose Deaths in Washington State”) concluded that there was an increase of fentanyl-related overdose deaths in Washington State between 2015 (28) and 2016 (70).

The Attorney General/Washington State Patrol/Association of Prosecuting Attorney’s report notes that some states have enhanced penalties for drug dealers who have added fentanyl to heroin or other drugs. The report recommends that trafficking fentanyl or fentanyl analogues be added to state law as an aggravating circumstance to allow sentences above the standard range.

For the complete report, go to,

Washington State Attorney General’s Office:

http://agportal-s3bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/uploadedfiles/Another/News/Press_Releases/OpioidSummitReport.pdf

The first goal is to increase public awareness about the dangers of opioids (http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/11/opioid-crisis-washington-states-response.html).

The second goal is to prevent addiction by curtailing overprescribing (http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/11/opioid-crisis-washington-states.html).

The third goal is to reduce the illicit use of prescription opioids http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/11/opioid-crisis-washington-states_30.html.

The fourth goal is to disrupt and dismantle organizations responsible for trafficking narcotics http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/12/opioid-crisis-washington-states.html

OPIOID CRISIS- Washington State’s Response Part 4

The Washington State Attorney General’s Office, Washington State Patrol and the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys have issued a 29-page report with seven recommended goals to reduce illegal opioid use.

So far, the report’s recommendations have called on actions by medical and dental professionals, government entities such as DSHS, and the public.

The fourth goal focuses on law enforcement actions to “interdict” the illicit drug trade. The goal is to disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking organizations responsible for bringing narcotics into our state. Under this goal the report has one recommendation, restore resources for multi-jurisdictional drug-gang task forces.

The report notes that multi-jurisdictional drug task forces work to reduce illicit drugs in the community. It highlights recent results from task forces in Grant County and Grays Harbor County.

Drug-gang task forces are federally, and state funded. State funding has declined from $1.6 million in 2006 to $0 starting in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Federal funding has had its ups and downs since 2000. In 2010, Washington State task forces received $6.6 million, while between 2011 through 2017 Washington State task forces received a yearly average of just over $3 million.

Three task forces have disbanded bringing the total of task forces in Washington to 17. Other task forces have limited their operations to match reduced budgets.

Snohomish County has two multi-agency drug task forces, the Snohomish Regional Drug and Gang Task Force and the South Snohomish County Narcotics Task Force.

For the complete report, go to,

Washington State Attorney General’s Office:

http://agportal-s3bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/uploadedfiles/Another/News/Press_Releases/OpioidSummitReport.pdf

The first goal is to increase public awareness about the dangers of opioids (http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/11/opioid-crisis-washington-states-response.html).

The second goal is to prevent addiction by curtailing overprescribing (http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/11/opioid-crisis-washington-states.html).

The third goal is to reduce the illicit use of prescription opioids http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/11/opioid-crisis-washington-states_30.html.