SCAM UPDATE – Warnings About Scams in Washington State

Local and state government agencies have been warning of recent scams preying on citizens of Washington State.

Health Insurance Scams. The Washington State Office of the Attorney General has issued a warning about scammers publishing ads and creating websites that pose as the official health insurance marketplace. The AG’s Office says that some websites trick Washingtonians into giving over their personal information. Others provide services, but charge for services that should be free. And others make false claims about providing a simple, streamlined process for comparing marketplace health plans. These websites, known as lead generators, instead sell the consumer information to the highest bidder often to insurance brokers who are not authorized to sell marketplace health plans.

The AGO points out that the only official website for the online marketplace is www.wahealthplanfinder.org. Any other site that ends in “.net” or “.com” is not the official site. If you are unsure that you have the official site, you can call the Washington Healthplanfinder toll-free at 1-855-WAFINDER.

It also points out that the official marketplace is the only place where you can receive tax credits, subsidies, or access to free coverage through Medicaid or Washington Apple Health. And Washingtonians never have to pay to sign up for free or low-cost health coverage in the official marketplace.

For more information go to,

Washington State Attorney General’s Office:

https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/consumer-alert-ag-ferguson-warns-consumers-scam-health-insurance-ads-and-websites

 

REAL ID Scam. The Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL) warns citizens that there is a phishing scam going around nationwide revolving around the REAL ID driver’s license. Scammers send text messages or emails claiming that victims need to update their REAL ID information. They are directed to a fraudulent website that looks like the Washington DOL website where they are prompted to enter their personal information.

DOL will not reach out to you for your personal information.

DOL recommends that you delete any messages that you suspect are scams and do not click on any links in scam emails or text messages.  It also recommends that you report any messages that you suspect are scams to the Federal Trade Commission at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/ or that you forward fraudulent text messages to SPAM (7726).

 

KXLY:

https://www.kxly.com/dept-of-licensing-warns-of-real-id-scam-aiming-to-get-victims-personal-information/

 

Suspected Fraudulent COVID-19 Testing. The Edmonds Police Department is warning citizens about suspicious COVID-19 testing sites that were set up at two locations in downtown Edmonds. One site was located in front of the Starbucks at 5^th Ave South and Main St., while the other was located near the ferry terminal at 199 Sunset Ave S.

Each site consisted of a manned folding table. Personnel at the table instructed people to provide their personal information, name, birthday, contact information and insurance details for a COVID-19 test.

Last week, Public Health- Seattle & King County issued a warning about similar street corner COVID-19 testing sites on several street corners in Seattle and a door-to-door testing operation in Auburn. Public Health disavowed any connection with the folding table or door-to-door testing operations.

The Edmonds Police Department encourages everyone to only provide personal information to verifiable COVID-19 test sites or other trusted health care providers.

 

The Herald:

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/fake-coronavirus-test-sites-pop-up-in-edmonds/

 

Edmonds Police Department:

https://www.facebook.com/EdmondsPoliceDepartment/photos/a.1424137787766920/1738162589697770/

 

Public Health- Seattle & King County:

https://publichealthinsider.com/2021/04/22/public-alert-get-tested-if-you-have-covid-19-symptoms-or-exposure-but-avoid-unusual-testing-operations/

 

Snohomish Health District, COVID-19 Testing:

https://www.snohd.org/503/Drive-Thru-Testing-Available-by-Appointm

 

PSYCHOLOGY OF SCAMS – Taking Advantage When We are Most Vulnerable

Scammers have been taking advantage of people for centuries. But modern technology affords scammers the capability to expand their reach to many, many people. In fact, modern scamming is a numbers game. With the ability to make thousands, if not millions, of robocalls a day, or emails, or text messages, even if the percentage of those who respond is tiny, a scammer can make a good living at our expense.

AARP, the organization that represents the interests of older people, together with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), who makes sure the broker-dealer industry operates fairly and honestly, recently issued a report based on a study that they conducted that looked into why some people become chronic victims of fraud.

Scammers want to get you emotional so that you act without thinking and so that they can more easily control your actions. It is called going under the “ether.” And a person’s life situation can make it easier for the scammers.

The AARP/FINRA study found situational factors that can set the stage for someone to be victimized by a scammer. The study classified the situational factors into three categories,

·         Circumstances- such as losing a job, losing a family member to death or divorce, financial insecurity, being isolated from family and friends, or experiencing mobility issues/needing to rely on others.

·         Victim Characteristics- such as feeling depressed, a lack of a sense of purpose, feeling unseen or lonely, physical/mental health changes/degradation, having/feeling a need to atone for past wrongs, feeling impulsive, overly trusting of others, experiencing a history of abuse, lacking knowledge of scams.

·         Biases- such as judging a decision based on its outcome, listening to information that confirms preconceptions, overestimating the importance of information that is available, relying more heavily on the first piece of information offered, failing to recognize one’s own biases.

 

Playing on situational factors are three elements that bring the scam/fraud into action,

·         Triggers- kick start the fraud, plays on the situational factors, and brings on an emotional response. The scammer seeks to activate a trigger to put the victim into action. Some triggers can include an urgent call for help, a perceived imminent danger to a family member, friend or home, romantic seduction, financial insecurity, building trust (in the scammer), a promise of a windfall, establishing a sense of scarcity, preying on a desire to do good.

·         Motivations- motivations are the underlying need or needs that a fraud victim wants to fulfill. A motivation is often a direct result of situational factors. Motivations can include a need to be cared about, need to be helpful, a need to be in control, a need to protect the family.

·         Ability- This is the capacity of the victim to follow through with a scam. A key is access to funds. There are drivers and barriers to ability.

o   Drivers include access to funds, abundance of time, trust (in the scammer), cognitive impairment, denial (that there is a scam).

o   Barriers include inaccessible money, inaccessibility to the fraudster, intervention by others, confusion, skepticism, distrust (of the scammer), worry about social judgement.

How to interrupt or stop scammers from being successful is a question that law enforcement and consumer protection professionals have been seeking answers to. Public education is a first effort. If the public knows about the existence of scams, then they will hang up, not click on a link, or not call a phone number the scammer gives them. Most people stay away from these scams. However, scamming is still a lucrative crime.

Chronic victims may need more personal help. Scammers do develop lead lists of people who are most likely to send money or give personal information. This makes it more difficult to break the pattern with scammers coming back for more.

Helping potential chronic victims avoid scams may be most effective from people they know and trust. Letting family members, friends, and neighbors know that scams exist, that scammers want to get victims emotional and that they take advantage of the events in the news, our greed, and our need to protect ourselves and our families can help in the long term.

If a family member or a friend is engaged with a scammer there are things that you can do to help them out of the situation. AARP recommends when talking to someone about the scam that you use language that empowers not shames. Shaming words, like “fell for it,” “duped,” “how could you,” places the blame on the victim not on the criminal. Someone in the position of being scammed will be sensitive to criticism and may be quiet about being scammed if they are shamed.

Finding a way to help your family member or friend to hold the scammer accountable can help them with their self-esteem, confidence, and sense of self-worth. This in turn shows a way out of the scam. Ultimate accountability may be difficult. But reporting the incident to an agency such as local law enforcement, the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, the Federal Trade Commission, or the FBI can give the victim a sense that they have done something.

If money was sent to the scammer, act quickly to attempt to recover the funds. If gift cards were used, contact the store where they were purchased to see if any funds could be recovered. If funds were taken out of a bank account, talk to the bank.

Even if you cannot recover any money, reporting the scam to authorities helps law enforcement collect the evidence it needs to eventually stop the scammers. And you and your family member or friend can break the contact with the scammer.

 

AARP The Perfect Scam podcast, Scammer Recruits Grandmother to Launder Money in Romance Scam- This podcast episode is an excellent example of what the report is talking about. A wife has to put her husband with dementia into a nursing home then finds being at home to be a lonely experience. Then she meets Mark online who subtly and patiently reels her into a romance/money mule scam. See how her family helped her out of this scam. 

https://www.aarp.org/podcasts/the-perfect-scam/info-2020/romance-scam-grandmother.html.

 

AARP Study- Addressing the Challenge of Chronic Fraud Victimization:

https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/money/scams_fraud/2021/03/AARP-chronic-fraud-victimization-report-2-26.pdf

 

AARP Fraud Watch Network:

https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/

 

Washington State Attorney General’s Office:

https://www.atg.wa.gov/file-complaint

 

Federal Trade Commission:

https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/

 

FBI- Internet Crime Complaint Center:

https://www.ic3.gov/

 

UNEMPLOYMENT FRAUD – U.S. Department of Labor Launches New Website

Unemployment fraud has become a major problem for the Washington State Employment Security Department and workers in Washington State as well as state labor departments and workers in states throughout the U.S. In response to this problem, the U.S. Department of Labor recently launched a new web site to help victims to report and recover from unemployment fraud and the associated potential of identity theft.

The website, www.dol.gov/fraud, gives guidance on how to detect that you have become a victim of unemployment fraud and links to state unemployment offices to report the fraud.

Fraudsters make unemployment claims using the personal information of other people that unemployment offices will have on file, then direct payments to accounts in the control of the fraudsters.

Victims frequently find out that their personal information has been used in the fraud if they receive mail from a state unemployment agency about a claim or payment in their name, they receive a 1099-G tax form listing unemployment benefits in their name, or while they are employed, they received a notice from their employer. The fraud usually goes hand in hand with identity theft. The Department of Labor points out that you should report unemployment identity theft to the state where it occurred. Last year, the Washington State Employment Security Department received publicity about fraudulent unemployment claims. It is conceivable, however, that an individual in Washington State could have a fraudulent unemployment claim made in another state.

The following links have resources from the Department of Labor and the Washington State Employment Security Department,

 

U.S. Department of Labor:

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20210322-0

Report Unemployment Identity Theft- https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/UIIDtheft

Report Unemployment Insurance Fraud- https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/unemployment-insurance-payment-accuracy/UIFraudReporting

 

Washington State Employment Security Department:

Unemployment benefits fraud- https://esd.wa.gov/unemployment/unemployment-benefits-fraud

Tax info for fraud victims- https://esd.wa.gov/unemployment/fraud-victims-taxes

 

South Snohomish County Crime Watch:

Here is a checklist of things to do if you are an unemployment fraud or unemployment identity theft victim- https://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2020/05/covid-19-identity-theft-what-to-do-if.html

 

 

DISTRACTED DRIVING – April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month

Distracted driving remains a concern for traffic safety professionals. In a study of 2020 statistics, the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) found an overall increase in distracted driving from 6.8% to 9.4%. Areas where distracted driving found the highest increase in distracted driving were at city streets with less than one in ten drivers driving distracted in 2019 increasing to nearly one if every five drivers driving distracted in 2020. County roads saw a doubling of distracted driving from 6.5% in 2019 to 13.2% in 2020.

Non-cell phone related distraction more than doubled on city streets and more than tripled on county roads between 2019 and 2020. Cell phone use also increased in 2020 with an 86% increase on city streets and a 25% increase on county roads. State routes saw a slight decrease in non-cell phone related distraction.

While all distracted driving is a concern, driving while holding a cell phone remains number one on WTSC’s priorities. As a reminder, it is against the law to hold your cell phone while you are driving. And that includes stopped at a stop light. You can use your phone if it is hands-free, and you can use the cell phone with a single touch or swipe of your finger. A good habit to get into is to mount your phone on your dashboard. You can also use your cell phone when you are parked or out-of-the-flow of traffic or to contact emergency services.

WTSC recommends that when driving you,

·         Set it and forget it: Turn your phone off, set it to “do not disturb,” or put in in airplane mode.

·         Out of reach, out of mind: Put your phone physically out of reach, like in the glove box, backseat, or trunk. Or give it to a passenger.

·         Plan ahead: Take 10 minutes before you hit the road to take care of things that could distract you like phone calls, eating, or setting up navigation or music for your drive.

·         Take a break: On longer trips, take a break every two or three hours to use your phone, change playlists, or have a snack.

 

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. All through the month local law enforcement agencies will be conducting extra patrols to look for distracted drivers.

WTSC and your local law enforcement agencies all encourage you to take steps not to be distracted while you drive.

For more information on distracted driving and how you can help prevent distracted driving, check out the following links,

 

Washington Traffic Safety Commission:

https://www.togetherwegetthere.com/distracted-driving/

https://wtsc.wa.gov/programs-priorities/distracted-driving/

http://wtsc.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2021/03/Distracted-Driving-in-WA-State-During-COVID.pdf

 

KOMO News:

https://komonews.com/news/local/mom-urges-people-to-not-text-and-drive-after-daughter-paid-ultimate-price