RANGELEY PLANTATION, Maine — Two Massachusetts men were arrested this week after accusations that they scammed a Maine woman out of $40,000 in a PayPal scheme.
The Lewiston Sun Journal reported that the Franklin County Sheriff’s office said Wednesday that the men posed as Department of Justice Employees to defraud the woman.
Dev Patel, 19 of Westford and Love Patel, 24 of Mansfield were both charged with theft by deception and taken to Franklin County Jail in Farmington, ME. Both have outstanding cash bails of $25,000 each, according to records from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.
Both suspects are alleged to have told the woman that they were conducting an investigation, demanding $40,000 which was sent to them through digital payment service PayPal.
According to police, both men were planning to return on Wednesday to collect an additional $32,000.
The case remains under investigation, with the Sun Journal reporting that law enforcement informed the “appropriate federal authorities.”
