FALMOUTH — A new kind of scam threatening physical violence if the demands are not met was called into the local Staples store over the weekend.
According to Lt. John Kilbride of the Falmouth Police Department, during a threatening phone call made to the store around 3:20 p.m. Aug. 26, an unknown caller “indicated there were explosive devices” planted in the store.
The caller’s goal, Kilbride said, was to force the employee who answered the phone to activate several Green Dot prepaid credit cards and read the card numbers to the caller, who could then use them to make purchases remotely.
Kilbride said the store, located at 240 U.S. Route 1, was closed as a precautionary measure and a bomb sniffing dog was brought in from the Portland Police Department to sweep the office supply retailer.
Nothing was found, Kilbride said, and the store was given the go-ahead to re-open.
“Such threats are extremely rare and this is the first time I’ve heard of such a thing locally,” he said.
He said police are still investigating the call and could not say whether it originated within the United States or from overseas.
The Staples store on U.S. Route 1 in Falmouth received a bomb threat over the weekend as part of an attempt to extort money, according to local police.
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