GCSO warns of assessor impersonation scam

MOSES LAKE – The Grant County Sheriff’s Office wants to warn the public of a subject impersonating Grant County deputy assessors.  

A member of the public called the Grant County Assessor on Thursday, saying a woman with bleach-blonde hair and a blue SUV showed up to their door claiming to be a deputy assessor. The community member did not allow the woman entry to their home.  

“It's happened one other time before, several years ago,” GCSO Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman said. “The remedy for it is for us to make sure that the public is aware of scams like this, because immediately after last time they did it we put out information saying ‘Hey, watch out for this.’ Afterward, they stopped.” 

Foreman is referring to a situation in December of 2017 in Ephrata. Someone was impersonating a Grant County Assessor, pretending to be an appraiser from the office and asking to be let into homes.  

“They're probably conducting surveillance on the whole and targeting it for future burglary,” Foreman said. 

Foreman recommended residents look for three key things if a Grant County Assessor shows up to their residence. First, the assessor should be driving a white, marked county vehicle with the Grant County emblem on the side. Secondly, the employee should be clearly wearing a county employee identification card. Thirdly, the person should have official county business cards.  

“If the community member thinks that the person may be an imposter, they should call 911,” Foreman said.  

A directory of county staff is also available for reference at https://www.grantcountywa.gov/Directory.aspx.