State officials say they have seen an increase in attempts to scam consumers in the past few weeks.
"They range from internet to telephone,” says Will Lund, the superintendent of Maine's Consumer Credit Protection Bureau. “We have folks who have received collection calls from debts that are not theirs."
Lund says one scam involved a woman who received an email attempting to extort money, and the message included a current password the woman uses.
Lund advises consumers not to act on any phone call or email message they didn't initiate. He says that if you do receive communication from a creditor that might be legitimate, call or write them back to be sure. And, he says, report potential scams to state officials.
