Scam artists use trust, fear and AI to target Washington victims: ‘Their brain shuts off’

The calls come in with voices that soothe or instill fear.

They include information as if it is coming from either a banking institution or government entity with the authority that gives the message gravity.

But both are types of contacts intended to trigger a response: Give us money. And they work.

The North American Securities Administrators Association reported that state financial regulators conducted more than 8,800 investigations in 2024 that led to more than $259 million in fines and restitution.

But that pales to the number of reported cases of fraud.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, residents in Washington state alone reported 15,600 instances of fraud during the first nine months of 2025 for a total reported loss of about $86 million.

“There are lots of scams out there,” said Faith Anderson, acting director of securities at the Washington Department of Financial Institutions. “And there are lots of scams that have been reinvented with new technology through the use of AI and with cryptocurrency.

“They are very clever on how they build up trust with the people.”

And, unlike conventional wisdom, older people were not the group most often bilked. About 57% of those who reported being scammed were 19 or younger.

Locally, a woman in her 20s fell for a jury duty scam in late November and ended up losing $7,000 – as well as putting herself at risk of identity theft by giving out personal information, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Many fraudsters do target the elderly: About 27% of cases are reported by people 80 and older. The average loss was the highest amongst that oldest group, with an average loss of $2,750 compared to an average loss of $120 for the youngest group, according to the FTC.

And most of those scams were callers appearing to be government employees.

One of the most popular recent scams in Spokane County alleges jury duty violations, said Cpl. Mark Gregory, spokesman for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Callers are typically told that they missed jury duty and face a fine. The callers then say payment is needed immediately because deputies are on the way to arrest them for missing their civic obligation.

“We are never going to call you and say we have a warrant and are coming for you,” Gregory said. “We can’t keep people in the jail for big crimes, let alone missing jury duty or parking tickets.”

The scammers seek to throw people’s common sense off balance.

“Most people who end up falling for this never had a problem and never dealt with the court system, so they have no clue,” he said. “Then all of the sudden they missed jury duty.

“I had a military guy who felt horrible. He served a long time in the military. He was worried what his friends would think when they found out he shirked jury duty,” Gregory said. “When people are fearful, they don’t process the situation very well.”

One of the hooks used is when the scammers create the emergency and tell the victims to stay on the phone, eliminating a potential way for them to check out the situation.

“They are very convincing,” Gregory said of the scammers. “I have had people tell me they were targeted at 5 p.m. knowing that offices (that could verify the threat) were closed.”

Several years ago, Gregory was given the phone number of a scammer, so he called the person who claimed that he worked for the same agency as Gregory, the sheriff’s office.

“He had a southern accent. I said, ‘You don’t work for the sheriff’s office.’ He said, ‘Meet me in front of the Public Safety Building. We’ll see who goes to jail.’ He then forwards me to his ‘lieutenant.’ I asked, ‘Who’s the sheriff.’ He replied, ‘That’s privileged information. We can’t release it.’ It sounded legit.”

Anderson said many of the scammers appear to be callers from overseas.

“We just want people to be cautious and aware,” she said. “Take a pause and investigate before you give money to someone you have not had business dealings with.”

While recouping lost funds can be difficult, especially with callers from outside the country, state regulators and law enforcement still want victims to come forward.

“Getting the information helps guard against these scams,” Anderson said.

Scammers also do not focus only on phone calls. Many of the contacts are made through texting or social media.

Anderson said the reported individual losses from Washington residents have ranged from about $600 up to $700,000.

“For investment scams, they often ask for a small amount to build up trust,” she said.

After the victim gives the fictitious firm a few small amounts, the scammer then lets them know their investments are earning money, prompting them to give more.

“When they say, ‘I want to withdraw the gains,’ they say you can’t because there’s a problem with taxes or they need to pay additional fees,” Anderson said. “At the end of the day, they stop corresponding. That’s when the victim learns they have been the subject of a scam.”

Anderson said if anyone has questions, they should regularly check the Department of Financial Institution’s Financial Scam Tracker. It is continually updated with names of shell companies used in the reported scams.

If someone they don’t know asks for money, they should stop and attempt to either contact the company name or research it, she said.

“We do not want to see Washingtonians cheated out of their hard-earned money,” Anderson said.

Gregory said, he too, struggles with how best to alert residents about the potential scam dangers.

“I remember a guy losing $40,000 to Apple iTunes cards. Crypto is really big right now,” he said.

He noted that Spokane County does not accept payments from PayPal or Venmo or any form of cryptocurrency. So, any of those payment requests should raise a red flag with consumers who are told they need to pay.

“No matter what, they need to stop and know that the immediacy is not the problem,” Gregory said. “We are not going to come arrest you for something like” fines.

One of the scams involves learning the credit union of victims before they call.

“They’ll call to say we’ve found some unauthorized activity on your accounts. Give us your passwords so we can be able to collect your money that has been fraudulently taken,” he said. “So you just gave them the keys to your accounts.”

Another ploy is called the “grandparent scam.” The fraudsters get a family name and call their grandparents.

“They say, ‘We are with your grandchild’ and they have a name,” Gregory said. “They say, ‘They were in an accident and we searched the car and found drugs,’ creating the emergency. ‘If you send us $1,500 it will save us from filing a report and we can release them.’ ”

Another scam is based on someone checking publicly available information from the jail.

“I called and talked to a lady. She had a family member who had been arrested for DUI,” Gregory said. “They (scammers) do some information. They call and say, ‘Hey, your kid sister has been arrested for DUI. We would love to release them on home monitoring but that costs money, $1,500. If you pay now, we can release them tonight.’ ”

The victims think they are helping.

“But they say, ‘You’ve got to do it right now.’ That’s the biggest thing,” Gregory said. “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.”

Any message from a source that appears different in any way and asks for immediate payment should prompt questions, he said.

Victims “get so fearful that their brain shuts off. And people are convincing. They really are,” Gregory said of the scammers. “I don’t care whether it’s a government entity or a business. Stop and verify.”

Anyone with questions should not accept a number or website to check from the caller seeking funds. Potential victims should conduct their own research.

“Stop and hang up and get a number you know,” Gregory said. “It will save you a lot of money.”