RANGELEY PLANTATION, Maine — A pair of Massachusetts men were arrested after authorities say they used a PayPal scheme to scam a Maine woman out of tens of thousands of dollars.
Dev Patel, 19, of Westford, and Love Patel, 24, of Mansfield, are both facing a charge of Class C theft by deception, according to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in Farmington, Maine.
A detective investigating a report on Tuesday of a woman in Rangeley Plantation who had been defrauded out of $40,000 learned the Patels were posing as Department of Justice employees when they visited the victim’s home and demanded her money as part of an “investigation,” Sheriff Scott R. Nichols said in a news release.
The Patels were arrested Wednesday at the victim’s home in Rangeley Plantation after investigators learned of their plan to return to collect an additional $32,000.
Nichols’ office has since notified federal authorities of the investigation.
It wasn’t immediately clear when the Patels would face a judge.
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