A man posing as a detective for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office has been trying to trick people into sending him money for allegedly missing jury duty.

The sheriff’s office has received several complaints this week from people who said a man posing as “Detective Wayne Pike” called and told them they could avoid arrest by purchasing gift cards – such as Reddit – over the telephone, Capt. Donald Goulet in a news release Thursday.

“One citizen fell victim to the scam and sent $3,000 of gift cards,” Goulet said.

Goulet said the scammer targeted psychologists and clinical social workers. He said it appears the fraud artist obtained their contact information from a website, psychologytoday.com.

According to police, the scammer used spoof telephone numbers, which showed up on caller ID as a local number in the town of Naples.

“Detective Pike (the fake detective) provided a Maine telephone number to return the call. ,” Goulet said in the release.

Goulet reminded the public that the sheriff’s office will never call and request a payment to be made over the telephone.

Those who believe they were targeted by such fraudulent activity are urged to contact Detective Ashley Hall at 774-1444, ext. 2159, or the county regional communication center at 893-2810.

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