Washington State Patrol (WSP) is warning the public to double-check before donating so the money doesn’t end up going to scammers.
The department says someone is trying to mimic the Washington State Patrol Memorial Foundation’s Venmo account, just days after a trooper was killed in the line of duty.
“We are all beyond heartbroken,” Megan King told KIRO 7 News. She’s the Executive Director of the Washington State Patrol Memorial Foundation. “To take advantage of that and take the money away from where it should be going and the families that need it, it’s unbelievable, it’s disgusting.”
On Friday, Trooper Tara-Marysa Guting was hit and killed by a vehicle in Tacoma while responding to a crash.
King said that scammers are trying to take advantage of the surge of generosity stemming from Trooper Guting’s loss, creating fake Venmo accounts with small variations, hoping people will click on the wrong one.
“They’re varied just slightly,” she told KIRO 7. “There’s an additional letter or an additional dash or a space in the name so it could easily be misconstrued for our Venmo.”
The correct account is @WSP-MemorialFoundation. If it is your first time donating, it will ask you for four digits, which are 4411.
You can also donate at www.wspmf.org. Scoll to the bottom of the page. Right underneath Trooper Guting’s photo, there is an area on the right that has a link and a QR code, which will direct you right to the donation options.
Guting was the 34th trooper to be killed in the line of duty in WSP’s 105-year history. She was 29 years old and graduated from the academy a little over a year ago.
Tacoma police are now searching for a vehicle of interest in her death. They’re looking for a dark pickup truck, possibly black in color. It is believed to be either a Chevrolet Avalanche (four-door) or a Cadillac Escalade EXT-style pickup (four-door). The vehicle may have tinted windows, chrome door handles, and chrome running boards. No license plate information is available.
Police ask that anyone who witnessed the collision, observed the vehicle of interest, or may have dash-camera footage from southbound SR-509 in the area of Port of Tacoma Road around 7:20–7:30 p.m. on Friday, contact investigators.
“This second vehicle - it’s dark, it’s rainy, there’s a lot going on in that area - also struck the trooper,” Shelbie Boyd with Tacoma police told KIRO 7. “We really want to talk to that person to kind of put this puzzle together completely.”
Anyone with information on the truck or its driver to reach out to Crimestoppers at 1 (800) 222-TIPS. A $1,000 reward is offered for information leading to the driver’s arrest.
“Being able to help the state patrol with investigating this case is really important to us,” Boyd said. “It is important to the troopers, to the community, to the family that we get it right.”