Maine AG Warns Of Phone Scammer Offering Phony ‘Award’

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine Attorney General Janet Mills says residents should be aware of a phone scam in which a caller tells the recipient they have received an award from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

Mills says the recipient of the call is asked to pay $200 for an access code to get the award. She says the government won't call people asking for credit card information by phone, and recipients of the call should hang up.

The scam is similar to another that has circulated via Facebook messenger. Those messages often come from a phony profile of a friend of the recipient.

Mills says residents can contact her office if they feel they have been the victim of this scam or any other.