LINCOLN, Maine — If you receive a call from a man identifying himself as a government official who says he needs your Medicare card number and date of birth, don’t give him any information, Police Chief William Lawrence said Tuesday.
The call is a scam, he said.
Police have received four reports since Oct. 9 of what they say likely are scams. Three of the complainants declined to file reports, saying they only wanted police to be aware of the scam, Lawrence said.
Detective David Cram is investigating the fourth complainant’s report, but Lawrence is not optimistic about Cram’s chances of catching the scammer.
“These scam artists can be anywhere,” Lawrence said Tuesday. “They can be out of the country, and in most cases, they are.”
The woman who filed a complaint with police told officers that she took calls on Oct. 9 and 16. In at least one case, she saw through the subterfuge enough to refuse to give the caller any of the information he had sought, instead asking to speak to his supervisor. The number he gave rang to a disconnected number, Lawrence said.
“We are not aware of anybody being hit by this scam,” Lawrence said.
Anyone who wishes to report receiving a scam call or who has or seeks other information may call police at 794-8455, Lawrence said.
The scam calls all feature the same basic details. The man usually targets senior citizens and calls in the early evening hours, Lawrence said.
The scam artist could use the information sought to rob his victims through electronic means or could sell the information he receives to third parties, Lawrence said.
My current favorite (and by favorite I mean I wish I could set them on fire with the power of my mind) telephone scam is the one where the guy calls up and says he’s in a network ops center in California, and he’s calling because they’ve received a distress call from your computer. They get a bit belligerent if your response is a derisive snort and words to the effect of, “Yeah, right. How’s the weather in Bangalore today?”
When they call me I just say “Me no speaka da english” …click….
It was lucky that I was home 2 weeks ago as I caught my elderly mother giving her bank account number and info to a scammer. I had to go to the bank and cancel her account and it has been a pain in the butt since. She is upset, but I really hope she learned a lesson and is not going to do that again. She was lucky that they did not clean out her account.
I do what a friend suggested — press and hold “3” on my phone keypad and it, apparently, emits a high-pitched sound that is very unpleasant on the ears … I sure hope so!!