Police warn about potential roadside donation scam

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — The Sherwood Police Department is warning about fake donation scams in the community.

The police department took to Facebook to warn about a suspected scam they came across on during July on Pacific Highway.

Authorities said they came across a group walking in the middle of traffic asking for money for a bone marrow transplant.

“The main concern was the fact that they were going in and out of traffic, which could not only cause an issue for them like they could get hit by a car, but it can cause an issue for traffic flow as well,” Sherwood police PIO Paul Mattson III told KOIN 6 News.

When officers asked the group about the donations, they said they couldn’t give any details about the baby who needed the money or the procedure the baby needed.

Similar scams have been seen around the country authorities said, and they said they found another person using the same scam in San Francisco and they found a social media post describing it also in North Carolina.

“One of our detectives did some digging and found multiple different photos of the same sign being used at different parts throughout the country,” Mattson said.

Sherwood police said they made the post, which has been shared over 600 times now, to help educate the public and help them make informed decisions when donating money in situations like this.

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