Kennewick Police Beseech Residents to Hang Up on Robocall Scams

The Kennewick Police Department has to deal with all kinds of theft and burglary investigations, they are fairly typical, however some 21st century cases are not always so elementary, such as the evidential presentation of obvious signs of forced entry or corroborating witnesses seeing someone sneaking through a unlocked window.

You may not be able to obviously see it, but if it happens to you, the loss is no less shocking.

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According to Lt. Aaron Clem of the Kennewick Police Department, a 75-year old local woman got a call from what she thought was the Social Security Administration. The scammers claimed they had her Social Security number and, according to Lt. Clem, "were able to convince her that the number had been compromised and that it would cost her $10,000 to fix the problem."

The woman was instructed to send cash to a Texas address, which she did, but the more she thought about it, the more worried she got, so when she got home, she called police.

Scammers make more than 2 billion phone calls per month according to the robocall-blocking service YouMail. Even if the percentage of people who take the bait is minuscule, the potential haul is incredibly lucrative, staggering actually.

Luckily, the bad guys in the woman's case were thwarted.

KPD worked with FedEx to get the money rerouted and returned to her. Clem said, "The only way this ending could be happier is if we were able to identify the suspects and put them in jail."

Coming soon, a series of online events to keep Washingtonians one step ahead of robocall ruses. Tip-Offs to Rip-Offs (there's one online for the Wenatchee area on June 30th, click here for details) will feature advice from experts in many fields dedicated to stopping scammers swindle you with their terrifying fight-or-flight scenarios.