He called asking for money. But the scammer got a surprise

Some scammers need to consider who they’re calling.

A West Richland resident received a phone call from a 206 area code on Wednesday, claiming to be from a local police officer association.

He told the woman the association was trying to raise money to buy equipment.

The only problem for the caller — he was on the phone with the wife of a West Richland police officer. She reported the information about the call, including the scammer’s phone number, with police.

West Richland police want the public to know they are not calling to request donations for anything, and they don’t know of any other agency fundraising.

A call to the number only nets a recorded message saying no one is available and asking the person to call back later.

This isn’t the first time the number, 206-483-2723, has been associated with a scam, according to the website Whycall.me.

West Richland police used the chance to remind the public about their current campaign aimed at benefiting the Tri-Cities Cancer Center. People can go to tccancer.org/foundation/donations to give money to that legitimate campaign.

This story was originally published October 26, 2017 at 10:16 AM with the headline "He called asking for money. But the scammer got a surprise."