Telemarketers trying to sell free sex offender list

The Associated Press

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Residents of Mason, Thurston, Grays Harbor, Kitsap, Pierce, King, Whatcom, and Lewis counties have received automated calls warning that a sex predator has moved into their neighborhood and offering to sell a list of sex offenders living in their ZIP code.

"They are trying to make money from something that is already free, by trying to scare the public into spending $19-$20 for nothing," Mason County sheriff's Detective William Adam wrote in a letter to the media. "This company is causing a panic due to their misleading automated phone calling."

Adam identified the company as United States Protection and Care Society, based in California.

People can find a list and a map of registered sex offenders living in their area on the web site of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. The web address is http://ml.waspc.org. People without Internet access can get the same information by visiting their local sheriffs' office.

Adam said he has talked with several people who bought the lists.

"It's a scam coming out of California," he said.

The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Office hasn't gotten any complaints about the automated calls, but spokeswoman Lori Takahashi said they want to hear from anyone who does receive them.

"It's clearly a violation of the Consumer Protection Act because this information is free," she said.

Takahashi said people who receive the calls can report them to the Attorney General's Office at 800-551-4636.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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