A Bothell woman who thought she was making a donation to a church was scammed out of $20,000 in Mountlake Terrace on June 29th.

The victim, a 54 year-old Bothell woman who speaks very limited English, was approached by a man near 224th St SW and Highway 99 in Edmonds. The man was requesting that the woman make a donation to a church. The woman agreed to drive the man to Cedar Plaza (228th and 44th) where the man waited while the woman went home to get the money for the donation.

A little while later the woman returned with $20,000 in cash and met back with the subject at Cedar Plaza. Apparently the arrangement they made was that the man would drive the woman to a church in Shoreline where she would make the donation. But instead of getting back in to the woman’s car, the man just walked away with the cash.

At this point the woman realized that she had been scammed and called the police. Detectives are currently investigating the case. The man was described as a black male, possibly in his mid-40’s, wearing a white coat similar to what a doctor would wear.

Photo by Esther Dyson via Flickr using a CC-BY-NC license.