These days nobody is immune to being a target of scammers, as Hoquiam Police Chief Jeff Myers can personally attest. Meyers was personally targeted with a fax sent to him at headquarters April 24.

“What a great day it is at HPD as I personally just received this faxed letter from an attorney in England reference my long lost relative, Arthur Myers, who left a life insurance policy of $10,950,777!” quipped Myers. “Wow! I am soooo lucky, and all they want is a confidential contact number for me and share 10 percent of the proceeds with charity. How nice!”

The letter was attributed to a Derek Bambury ESQ of Browne Jacobson LLP in London, stating Myers was due the inheritance, claiming “This is 100 percent risk free.”

“Although obviously a scam, it is scary these people cannot only mine your name and information, but somehow connected me with the department and located our fax number,” said Myers. “Remember, if it is too good to be true, it is a scam. Do not respond, and make sure to protect your personal information and identification at all times.”

Thursday, another scam was texted to Hoquiam Police Sgt. Brian Dayton. It read, “Yesterday by the local police as there are four serious allegations pressed on your name at this moment we would request you get back to us so that we can discuss about this case before taking any legal action against you.” It included a call back number with an 858 area code, which is San Diego County in California.

“Most of us know of these types of scams, but our senior citizens and vulnerable adults may not,” said Dayton. “Educate them to make sure they do not fall for these.”

Earlier this month a 77-year-old Hoquiam woman was bilked out of $15,000 after a telemarketing scammer called her and said if she came up with $7,500 she would get a return of $60,000. She got another call soon after saying she had sent the check to the wrong address, so she wrote another check for the same amount. Both checks were immediately cashed and there was no way to stop payment.