Man Posing As Ups Driver Scams Several Area Businesses

Spokane police say a man posing as a parcel deliveryman has scammed several Spokane area businesses.

Clad in a United Parcel Service uniform, the man walks into businesses with a package. He tells employees the package is for a physician who will pick it up within an hour.

He then asks for payment of a $51 delivery charge, telling employees the physician will reimburse the business when he picks up the package, said Dick Cottam, a police spokesman.

In each case, when the physician did not come for the package, businesses called him and discovered they had been defrauded.

Several businesses have accepted the package, which contains only newspaper, and paid the deliveryman. One reported a man claiming to be the physician called and asked them to accept and pay for the package. The employee agreed even though he did not know the physician.

Police say the suspect has long, wavy, brown hair and is between 30 and 40 years old. He is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 180 pounds.

Police are asking anyone with information to call Crime Check at 456-2233.

, DataTimes