PORTLAND, Maine — The AARP’s Fraud Watch Network took to the phone lines Thursday as part of its “Reverse Boiler Room,” informing people of two imposter scams — IRS and tech support scams — hitting thousands of Mainers, the AARP announced Thursday.
Staff and volunteers operated their own telemarketing boiler room, giving local residents tips and information on how to protect themselves from scams. Often times scammers will masquerade as police officers, federal agents or financial service companies in attempt to con a person into paying them.
According to the most recent Federal Trade Commission list of top consumer fraud complaints, 814 Maine residents were the victims of imposter scams in 2014.
The IRS scammers would tell people to pay thousands of dollars in back taxes to avoid being arrested while the tech support scammers would tell people their computers have viruses and that via remote access is the lone way the computer can be fixed.
Reverse Boiler Room is a partnership between the AARP and the attorney general’s office with a mission of bringing volunteers together statewide to coach people on how to detect scams.
