AUBURN — The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office is warning the public about an alarming scam making the rounds throughout the county.

Chief Deputy William Gagne said in a Thursday ACSO Facebook post that several residents called in asking if they have a warrant along with outstanding fees due to missing a court date they were not aware of.

Many reported to ACSO that they were asked by the callers who were posing as deputies to take over-the-phone directions to make a payment. Several of those callers requested Bitcoin specifically as a transaction.

“The caller is also spoofing our number and using names of actual deputies,” Gagne said. “Many of these calls are claiming the person did not show up to court and now needs to pay a substantial amount of money to avoid being arrested.”

Just over a day later, Gagne again took to ACSO’s Facebook to notify the public that calls reporting the scam continue to come in.

“We do not call people to tell them they have a warrant, and we definitely don’t tell them to send us money or Bitcoins to avoid being arrested,” Gagne said in a Friday email. “Sheriff (Samson) and I have both received calls and dispatch has also fielded numerous calls. We are hopeful by getting the word out that people will not become victims of the scam.”

The Oxford County Sheriff’s Office reported on Oct. 24 on its Facebook page of similar calls fielded by deputies and the Rumford Police Department. In addition to the warrant and fine payment scam, callers are asking their targets to pay in the form of gift cards, typically from Walmart. They have also been employing a scam by posing as family members claiming to be incarcerated and pleading for money.

“This is a common scam,” the OCSO’s Oct. 24 post said. “Do not give out your information when someone calls you and asks for payment. They will use techniques like having a family member call and plead for money. If this happens, call us and ask if your family member is in our correctional facility.”

If you receive calls from someone posing as a deputy or as a family member claiming to be incarcerated asking for payments of any kind, hang up the phone and report it to your local authorities. For the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office, call 1-207-753-2599. For the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office, call 1-207-743-9554.

Have you recently fallen victim to or nearly fallen victim to a scam like these? We’d like to share your story. Reach out to Joe Charpentier at jcharpentier@sunjournal.com.