Chelan & Douglas Auditors Warn of Door-To-Door Government Imposters
Local officials are warning of fraudsters who have been reportedly going door to door and misrepresenting themselves as being from the auditor’s office.
Numerous reports of people from the Washington Voters Research Project claiming to be government officials have been made in both Chelan and Douglas Counties this month.
Douglas County Auditor, Thad Duvall, says going door to door to talk with citizens about political campaigns and voting is allowed under the constitution, but anyone who comes knocking for this reason and says they’re with the government is breaking the law.
“The problem here is - they were representing themselves as coming from the auditor’s office. So if they, in fact, were representing themselves as government officials, then they are committing a felony.”
Chelan County Auditor, Skip Moore, backs up Duvall’s statement.
“They could have a name badge that says, ‘Hi, I’m Skip Moore and I’m working with the such-and-such project,’ that’s fine. But anything that implies or tries to tell citizens that they are part of Chelan County, or any part of government for that matter, that is a crime.”
Both Moore and Duvall say the auditor’s office never goes door to door soliciting information from voters.
The two urge anyone who gets a visit from someone claiming to be from the auditor’s office to report it immediately.