Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna has released this alert, about a telephone scam in which Spanish-speaking callers claim to be from “the insurance agency.”

Callers claim to be from “the insurance agency”

SEATTLE – The Washington Attorney General’s Office is alerting residents about a phone scam in which Spanish-speaking callers claim to be representatives of an insurance company.

Hispanic business owners from Seattle to Yakima and Spokane have reported receiving phone calls from Spanish-speaking callers who claim to be from “the insurance company.” In some cases, the callers also provide the names of actual insurance companies and/or agents.

The callers ask for bank account information they claim is needed to process insurance payments. The callers have left messages if owners aren’t home, along with phone numbers that start with 800, 877 and 752 area codes.

At least two individuals provided bank information to their cons, according to Unico Insurance Agency in Woodinville, which reported the fraud to the Attorney General’s Office. Company owner Carlos Garces said he has received more than 200 calls from customers, primarily restaurant owners, in recent months inquiring about phone calls. In some cases, the cons have mentioned his name. Garces said he is doing what he can to protect his customers and telling them to contact their bank if they provided any information.

The owner of a Spokane grocery store and deli also contacted the Attorney General’s Office after receiving more than 10 calls from individuals who claimed to be associated with various insurance companies. He said the callers, both men and women appeared to be friendly and tried to build up his trust. They claimed they needed to send an investigator to the business. The owner recognized the scam and did not provide any personal information.

As a reminder, never provide your bank account, Social Security number or other personal information to someone who asks for it by phone, e-mail or text message.

If you believe a call might be legitimate, ask for the caller’s name and contact details then end the conversation. Call the business directly using the number on your insurance card, statement or in the phone book.

If you believe you may have provided information in response to a fraudulent phone call, report the information immediately to your bank and place a fraud alert on your credit report.

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To read this in Español, click here.

The House of Writers/Casa de Escritores is sponsoring a special literary and cultural event this Friday, Dec 5, from 6-9pm at the White Center Taqueria del Rio, located at 10230 16th Ave SW (map below).

There you’ll enjoy a variety of readings, music and food.

This is a FREE event for the community, so please spread the word!

For more on House of Writers/Casa de Escritores, visit their blog:

http://houseofwriters.blogspot.com/

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Far as we know, no other local neighborhood blog in the Seattle area is utilizing this feature, which is now active and available on our right sidebar, directly underneath the “Local Weather” section – we at the White Center Blog proudly announce:

AUTOMATIC LANGUAGE TRANSLATION!

To see it in action, just click on either the Korean, Chinese or Spanish flag under the “Translator” heading on the right sidebar; the page should automatically translate to whichever language you chose.

Give it a try:

• In Korean
• In Chinese
• In Spanish

We hope to add additional languages soon, but for now these three languages should help us appeal to approximately 33% more of our potential White Center audience.

We know these stats have changed in eight years, but from our personal experience in the ‘hood, we’ve decided to go with Korean, Chinese and Spanish for now, with hopes of expanding to other languages soon.

So…spread the word and let’s keep the diversity of the Dub-C flowing on the internet!

Please email us if you have any problems or suggestions – we’re always trying to improve the White Center Blog, as well as helping to serve this wonderfully diverse community.