Maine Residents Targeted in New Phone Scam

These scammers are telling victims that they missed a federal grand jury summons and must pay a fine. They instruct the targets to load money onto a gift card and then share the gift card details over the phone.

There's a good chance you're reading this right now and saying to yourself, "Another gift card scam? Really?". It's been going on long enough where a lot of people smell scam immediately, but people are still falling for these types of scams, as well as many others.

News Center Maine says the sheriff's office emphasized that these calls are being made from fake, computer-generated phone numbers that have no affiliation with their department, which has been common in recent times. You may have noticed that your phone will often flaf incoming calls as "scam likely". If it doesn't, it does not mean there's not a scam attempt happening. The Cumberland County Sherrif's Office said that if you receive one of these suspicious calls, hang up and contact your local police department immediately.

As a rule, it's always important to be cautious and avoid sharing any personal or financial information over the phone as legitimate law enforcement agencies do not operate this way. It's a good reminder to pass this information along, especially to older family members and friends as they are the most susceptible to these scam attempts.