phone scam

Have you been a victim of a scam?

Have you ever been scammed out of any money?

They urge people to tell parents and grandparents because the scammers target the elderly.

Your phone's scam function might not even detect it!

It's a scam that's been around for years and it comes back because the scammers always find victims.

uthorities say a "concerned citizen" recently told Officers they received a call from someone saying their Pacific Power bill was overdue.

"You have 30 minutes to pay or we're shutting you off!"

Scams and scammers are nothing new. Pharaoh famously fell for the square-wheeled chariot scam back in the day. Ok, I made that up, but it could have happened. Of course, scams these days are easier to pull off with the advent of the internet. All the bad guys need you to do is click a link in an email, for example, and you're sunk.

Here we go again, another crazy scam from the Benton County Sheriff's Department. It seems these phone scammers want your money and your DNA.

I recently received a call from Kent, Washington. (253) 216-2530. Since I didn't recognize the name and it wasn't in my phone, I didn't answer it. They also didn't leave a message. Almost five minutes later, they called back. Again, I didn't answer it since I don't know who it's from. Doing a bit of research, others have had this issue with this number, too.

During the season of giving, it's a feeding grounds for many scammers to try and take advantage of your good nature. The Washington State Patrol has received several phone calls in the past few months from people saying they've had someone call them asking for money. Basic rule of thumb: If you think it's a scam, it probably is.

They're calling it the "jury duty scam," and it seems to have reached Yakima this week.