Washington State Warning: “Brushing” Scam Is Back – Do This Now

Washington State Warning: "Brushing" Scam Is Back - Do This Now To Stay Safe

It's the holiday season and yes another scam is coming back to Washington State and Oregon.

The Morrow County Sheriff's Department posted on their Facebook page that the "brushing" scam could be back in the Evergreen State

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If you don't know what the "brushing" scam is, here is the statement from the Morrow County Sheriff's Department:

A "brushing" scam is when someone receives an unexpected gift or item not ordered in the mail from a place like Amazon or other company. Examples of gifts include, rings, bracelets, necklaces, Bluetooth speaker, etc.

The gift will have the recipient’s address, but not include the sender's information or be from a known retailer. When the recipient opens the package to see what it is and possibly who sent it, there is a QR code to scan to find out who sent the gift.

Once the code is scanned, all the information from that phone will be sent to scammers. They receive all access to the phone. All personal and financial information is accessible to the scammers and often the victim's bank accounts are drained.

The gift can be kept or thrown away, but the QR code should NOT be scanned for any reason. QR code scams are nothing new. These scams show up in all places, including parking meters.
Inform your family members about the scam and avoid scanning any unknown QR codes included in the package.

So follow the Morrow County Sheriff's Department's advice and don't let yourself become a victim of this scam.