The St. James Police Department is warning residents of a new scam and this one is scary because of how far the scammers take it.

The St. James Police Department shared news about the scam on their Facebook page (February 17th), stating that they responded in person to a bank in the area after it was suspected a customer had become a victim of a brutal scam.

According to their post, a resident from the area went to a local bank and asked to take out a bunch of money. It turns out the person who was withdrawing this money was the victim of a scam, with a scammer telling them they had criminal charges that were pending. The scammer told them to buy gift cards to get the charges expunged.

As mentioned, this scam is scary because this scammer was so convincing, it caused someone to follow through and go to the bank. Thankfully, they did not lose any money, as the scammer called back after the police got to the bank. However, this serves as a good reminder to be vigilant when it comes to scams like this.

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The St. James Police Department says they will never ask you to do anything regarding a gift card, they won't threaten you on the phone and they will talk to you about charges face-to-face, not aggressively over the phone.

As with similar scams, if you receive a questionable call from a local law enforcement officer, it is okay to hang up and call them back to make sure they are who they say they are.

St. James, Minnesota is located about four hours from Duluth, located in the southern part of the state.

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