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:
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:
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 5th 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:
Snohomish Health District, COVID-19 Testing:
https://www.snohd.org/503/Drive-Thru-Testing-Available-by-Appointm
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