Kennewick credit union employees foil scammers in fake kidnapping plot

KENNEWICK, Wash. - Employees at a Kennewick credit union are being credited with helping a woman who believed her family had been kidnapped.

On August 8, Doug Wadsworth, who is president and CEO of Tri-Cu Credit Union, said a woman came in and requested to withdraw a large amount of money from her account. Wadsworth said employees noticed the woman was upset and on the phone. The woman then handed one of the employees a note and asked them to call her husband to let him know their daughter had been kidnapped. According to Wadsworth, the scammer was Spanish speaking and said they were watching the woman and told her not to text anyone or let anyone know what was happening. Wadsworth said at one point, the scammer had let the woman listen to what she believed was her daughter's voice, further convincing her the scam was real.

After a similar scam was foiled by GESA Credit Union employees recently, employees were convinced themselves that this was a scam, Wadsworth said, they called the woman's daughter from another phone and asked her to come to the credit union. The family was reunited a short time later. It was later discovered the woman had already sent $1,000 to the scammer and they demanded more and that's why she went to the credit union that day.

Wadsworth said it was later discovered the woman had the Life360 location app installed on their phones, an app that was data hacked in March of 2024. Nearly half a million users had their personal information stolen, including names, phone numbers and home addresses. He said it appeared scammers were targeting those who are in the Hispanic community and who may not be comfortable with speaking English and not familiar with financial scams, leaving them vulnerable.

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