The Bangor Police Department issued a warning Thursday that a scammer impersonating a Bangor police officer is trying to trick Mainers out of their money.
“A person in the Farmington area alerted a family member that they had received a call from ‘Sgt. Ed Potter, of the Bangor Police Department,’ who said they had missed jury duty and needed to pay $3,000 via Coinstar,” the police department said in a news release.
The caller also had obtained information through social media accounts and the internet about the person who received the call, and had created an outgoing voicemail message identifying himself as Sgt. Ed Potter when calling the number back.
The person who received the call recognized that it was a scam and told a family member in law enforcement who contacted Bangor police.
“No legitimate law enforcement representative is going to demand you pay a fine on a warrant to them or the agency they work for,” Bangor police said. “If you do have to pay a fine for some reason, it goes to a bail commissioner if you are arrested and are released from jail before you go to court. If a court finds you guilty of a charge, you pay the court the fine, not the cops.”
Police added that anyone receiving such a call is not in trouble.
