Damariscotta police are warning about an ongoing scam that has been targeting local restaurants.
According to Damariscotta Police Officer Richard Alexander, the scam involves ordering a large amount of food for delivery. The scammer places the telephone order through a legitimate third party, in this case, a service for the hearing impaired.
Cover for the scam is provided in part by the calling service, Alexander said.
“A person calls this company and claims he is deaf and he has the company call this business and says we have somebody on the phone who is deaf and would like to place an order,” Alexander said. “The business has no reason to suspect something wrong because the company that is calling is legit.”
When the business attempts to confirm the order via email, the scammer directs the business to add an additional amount of money to the order to cover shipping costs. The total costs are to be charged to a credit card. The amount of money for shipping is to be sent to a private shipping company by way of a certified check, paid for by the restaurant.
According to Alexander, at least two area restaurants have been targeted by the scam to date.
Anyone with any information or who suspects they have been contacted by the scam is encouraged to call the Damariscotta Police Dept. at 563-1909.