WSP looking for information on King County gold scammers

The Washington State Patrol is looking for information on recent gold scammers in King County, said the WSP in a news release on Friday.

The WSP has gotten several reports and interviewed three people that were scammed by people selling fake jewelry on the freeways and ramps in the King County area in the past two weeks.

The reports are the same as ones received in King County and other parts of Washington and around the country.

Well-dressed people in higher-end rental cars flag down drivers on the side of the freeway or ramps saying they need money for gas to get back home. They say they will pay the person back more and/or give them gold jewelry in exchange for cash. This is typically an aggressive conversation and they demand cash to help them.

The first case happened on March 2 around 4 p.m. while the driver was eastbound on State Routh 520 to southbound Interstate 405. The person drove to their bank after being stopped by the scammer and handed over $10,000.00 in exchange for the gold jewelry shown below. The person, in this case, described the scammer as a man of Middle Eastern descent.

The second case happened on March 7 around 10:40 a.m. when the driver was westbound on SR 18 to SR 516. Two men in a brown KIA Cerato flagged over the person and ultimately scammed $4,000.00 from him. The person said one scammer looked to be in his 60s and the other 45 years old and both appeared to be of Arabic descent.

The third case happened on March 9 around 2 p.m. when the driver was southbound on I-405 to I-5. The suspect was described as a heavy-set man with a black beard and mustache in a suit driving a gray BMW SUB with no front plate. The person said the scammer told him he needed to get back to Miami. The person was scammed out of $1,000.00.

WSP detectives are looking for anyone that may have information on these cases or any others not described above. Detectives would also like to speak with any other victims of this scam that have yet to contact the police.

“Besides being a scam and illegal these situations are also very unsafe as these suspects are stopping on freeways and ramps where pedestrians are not allowed and at times stepping out into traffic in order to get drivers to pull over,” said the WSP. “If you find yourself in this type of situation DO NOT STOP! Call 911 as soon as possible and give the location and any description of suspects and vehicles.”

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