Phony solicitor defrauds Mill Creek cancer victim

Published 9:00 pm Friday, August 31, 2001

By Marcie Miller

Herald Writer

MILL CREEK — A charitable deed cost a Mill Creek woman suffering from cancer $130 after a hospital solicitor turned out to be a fake.

The 48-year-old woman in the 3100 block of Seattle Hill Road opened her door Thursday morning to a man who said he was soliciting for Children’s Hospital in Seattle, according to Mill Creek police.

The woman gave him $130 cash and told him she had cancer. He sympathized with her and gave her several phone numbers to call for support. When the woman tried calling the numbers later that day, she discovered they were fake.

Her next call was to the Mill Creek Police Department. They confirmed the woman had been scammed.

Mill Creek police spokeswoman Becky Erk said the woman mentioned that her relatives in Bear Creek near Woodinville had also been contacted by solicitors from the hospital.

Erk said all solicitors in Mill Creek, even nonprofit groups, are required to get a permit from the city. Applicants are subjected to background checks.

She said police usually get four or five phone calls if a solicitor is operating without a permit, but they didn’t get any other calls in this case.

The man is described as a white male in his early to mid 20s, 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet tall, with short dark hair and a goatee. He also had a leg brace or possibly prosthetic leg, and walked with a cane.

You can call Herald Writer Marcie Miller at 425-339-3292

or send e-mail to mmiller@heraldnet.com.