RENTON, Wash. — Law enforcement in King County is on the lookout for a scam artist who was temporarily released in May for substance abuse treatment and hasn’t been seen since.
Georgio Christopher Stevens has been linked to at least 13 theft cases targeting seniors, with nine of them being in Renton.
Investigators say Stevens has been active in King County since at least January, and his scam appears to involve him finding his victim, then damaging their vehicle. After they see the damage, Steven’s assures his victims that he can take care of it for a just a few dollars, he just needs their debit card.
“He talks his victims into putting a debit card into a card reader, and then tricks them into entering their pin numbers,” Renton Police Commander Dave Leibman said. “Once he has that information, he has complete access to their accounts.”
Police say Stevens has stolen more than $20,000 from victims in Renton alone. They say there could be more victims, but people may not want to come forward.
“Most of these victims, if not all of these victims, are profoundly embarrassed by being tricked,” Liebman said. “It’s very possible, and I would say probable, that we have a lot more victims out there that have just not reported any of their cases to the police.”
Police are hoping they can catch Stevens before he can find another victim.
“He’s targeting people that he feels are going to be vulnerable. And it’s bad enough for someone like this to be targeting anyone for crimes like that, but he’s deliberately choosing people that obviously are gonna be the most easily victimized. He’s just a predator,” Liebman said.