The door-to-door Seattle scam that isn’t always illegal

Scam artists generally don’t announce their presence, especially when going door-to-door in Seattle. It’s why Seattle residents get conned into handing out cash to someone with a tale of woe.

It happened recently in Wallingford where a man knocked on a door and asked for help. And like it or not, the practice — while very dishonest — isn’t exactly illegal.

The Wallyhood blog recently reported:

I wanted to let you know about a scam that I fell for the other day. We live in a triplex on the corner of North 38th Street and Wallingford Avenue North. About 8pm our buzzer rang… I went to the door. A man who identified himself as Joseph was standing there. He gave me a very detailed story about how he and his partner had just moved into “that house just up the street.” He pointed north on Wallingford. Joseph went on to say that he had just gotten a job at the University of Washington as a janitor because his boyfriend’s father knows the president of the university.

He had locked himself out and he was $12 short of being able to pay the locksmith to get him in because his wallet was locked inside. I asked him why the locksmith couldn’t let him in to get the wallet, but he just interrupted me to say the police officer that was on the scene said that legally he could not loan him any money in order to get into his house.

So we gave him $20… he left claiming that he would bring back the change… of course, never saw him again.

I figure the elaborate story told with such conviction and energy was worth the $20!!

Joseph is a tall, thin, well dressed African-American man. He mentioned that he was gay several times in the conversation… as I said, lots of energy/agitation as he told the story.

One thing to note about this story, according to Sergeant Sean Whitcomb with the Seattle Police Department, is it’s unlikely that a police officer will spend their time on a resident locked out of their home.

“At best, there are some officers who can help you get into a car built in the ’70s,” Whitcomb said. “The fact of the matter is, it’s not really a police issue. We are not going to respond to a lockout where someone can’t get into a residence. There are locksmiths for that purpose.”

A Seattle scam with history

The story is common around Seattle. Like the Bigfoot of cons, the locksmith scam is sighted every so often then disappears, leaving stories with similar details: UW, janitor, partner, locked out and needing money.

While Whitcomb hasn’t come across this specific locksmith scam, Seattleites have been for years. Looking back on neighborhood blogs, one can find a string of tales, all using similar details.

There’s this Reddit thread in which a person encountered the scam twice, two years apart. Then there’s this 2012 account from the Central District and again in 2011. Green Lake reportedly got hit with it, and so did Maple Leaf in 2011. Capitol Hill also hasn’t been spared.

And while Whitcomb hasn’t personally dealt with this particular locksmith scam, he’s still familiar with the basics.

“That’s just a variation on a number of different scams which is: Hey there, I’m down on my luck, and I’m a really nice guy, and just a few bucks would get me what I need then you’ll never see me again. Could you be helpful and neighborly? Thanks,” Whitcomb said as an example. “Essentially, that’s what this was.”

“The temptation is to be a good neighbor,” he said. “But let’s remember that this sounds eerily similar to the ‘Yeah, I’m headed to Tacoma and I’m out of gas and a few bucks short with a car full of kids, and I never beg and I’m really embarrassed to ask. Could you help me out?’ And people dig deep into the goodness of their hearts, but sadly that is typically a scam.”

Gambling with charity

While the locksmith scam, and similar cons, are dishonest, it’s not necessarily illegal.

“This is typically not criminal,” Whitcomb said. “It would be criminal if someone is selling you something and you don’t receive it. If someone is asking you to give them something in a pinch — it may be true or not true — but if you are providing monetary support, it’s important to understand that it is being given by you by choice … If you think someone has been deceptive, and you are frustrated, then learn from that lesson.”

“And it depends if the person is aggressive with you – intimidating and threatening – that is a police issue,” Whitcomb added. “If the person is making a simple request, and you are choosing to support them, that is your personal issue and not a police matter — whether or not the story is true or not. You’re being tricked, but not really defrauded.”

Whitcomb’s advice, if you suspect that anything is not on the up-and-up, say you have no cash and move along.

“I think it’s OK to give money to people, but when you do that you have to understand that it is a possibility that his story is a fabrication,” he said. “If you can live with that — the idea that the money you are giving may not necessarily go to what they say it is going to — by all means feel free. But if you are skeptical, the best advice is to say, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. I don’t carry cash.'”

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