PENINSULA DAILY NEWS was alerted to two new telephone scams:
From First Federal’s security department:
“Scam calls have been received in Port Angeles that give a recording purporting to be Expedia.
“The message in effect says “you have been selected to take part in a survey and may win money or a trip for your participation.
“The automated message will ask you to press 1 to participate. We don’t have details about what happens when you do, but we suspect that you may be asked for bank account details in order to ‘collect your prize.’
“If you receive one of these calls, hang up. Do not give out any information.
“The caller IDs from the reported calls have all been different. Caller ID can be spoofed, or faked, and is not a reliable indicator of true identity.
“One call even used a First Federal phone number in the Caller ID. Please rest assured that this telephone scam did not originate with First Federal. We take your security seriously.”
From Washington State Patrol:
“Date: August 4, 2015
“Contact:Captain Monica Alexander
“Phone: (206) 396-4505
“E-mail: monica.alexander@wsp.wa.gov
“Washington State Patrol Phone Compromised
“The Washington State Patrol (WSP) Headquarter’ s telephone was compromised.
“The WSP received 30 complaints from citizens stating they were called by someone who falsely identified themselves as a WSP trooper.
“According to the citizens, the caller impersonating a trooper accused the citizens of various violations including outstanding warrants, unpaid tickets, and unpaid school taxes.
“The WSP does not call citizens to advise of violations, warrants, or collect fines.
“If citizens receive phone calls from someone stating they are a WSP trooper calling to collect or advise of fines, they should do the following:
“· Do not answer any questions
“· Do not agree to pay any fines
“· Do not share any personal information
“· Hang up the telephone
“The WSP takes these acts very seriously and is currently working on a solution to remedy the problem.”
