King County prosecutors warn of surge in ‘courier scams’ targeting mostly seniors

King County prosecutors are sounding the alarm over a surge in so-called “courier scams” that primarily target older residents across the state. Since the beginning of 2024, Patrick Hinds, Chief Deputy of Economic and Wage Theft Division of the King County Prosecutor’s Office, stated that 46 victims have come forward, reporting they have lost a combined $7 million to scammers.

“We have reports of people losing $870,000, losing money in chunks of $20,000 to $30,000,” Hinds said. “This can be devastating and life-changing.”

Hinds said the scam involves bad actors texting, emailing, or calling potential victims to try to trick them into withdrawing large sums of cash from retirement funds or savings and checking accounts, and handing it over to a courier who will transport the money to a safe place.

“The goal here is to create a sense of fear and a sense of urgency that something needs to be done right now, that the money in their account, their bank account, their investment account, isn’t safe, and what needs to be done is that that money needs to be drawn out in cash,” Hinds said. “That cash is either put in a box or used to buy gold that’s put in a box, and the scammer will send a courier to pick it up and take it for safekeeping.”

What can you do to avoid being a victim

Make sure the computer you use has up-to-date anti-malware software and use common sense, said Hinds. And do not click on any links in a text message or email.

One of the hallmarks of these scammers is that they use the name or badge number of actual people who work for the agencies they’re pretending to represent. Hinds warned that if you’re not sure whether someone is trying to scam you or if you have questions, pause and think it over.

“Ask yourself, is what I’m being told? Does that really make sense? Because I can tell you, if you stop and think about it, you know, no government agency is going to contact you via a pop-up on your computer,” Hinds said.

However, perhaps your best defense is simply deleting a text or email from someone or some business you don’t recognize. And if you don’t recognize a number on caller ID, just ignore it.

“Just don’t engage because they’re in a volume practice,” Hinds said. “If they can get you to engage, you’re then a target that they may continue pursuing. If you just ignore them, they’ll move on to something else.”

Finally, if you are a victim, Hinds said to report it immediately to your local police department or sheriff’s office, any involved financial institution, the Federal Trade Commission, and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

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