ST. IGNACE –Troopers from the Michigan State Police (MSP) St. Ignace Post are warning the public of a phone scam that is taking place in the Eastern Upper Peninsula.

A resident of Mackinac County was contacted, by phone, by a man identifying himself as a government law enforcement official who handles cases of fraud. This man spoke with a heavy foreign accent and advised the victim that she was facing criminal charges because her Social Security number had been used in a case of check fraud in Texas.

The caller told the victim that he could clear everything up for her and provide her with a new Social Security number if she agreed to provide him with her credit card numbers. After providing the caller with her credit card numbers, the caller then directed the victim to purchase a number of Google Play cards and provide him with the security codes from those cards. After receiving these numbers and codes, the caller told the victim that two government law enforcement officials would arrive at her home the following day to finalize this matter. After realizing that she was most likely the victim of a phone scam, she contacted the state police.

“The state police would like to take this opportunity to remind the public that government law enforcement officials do not ask people for their credit card numbers over the phone, or to provide them with online forms of currency such as Google Play cards. If anyone feels that they have also been victimized by a scam such as this, please contact your local law enforcement agency,” state police stated in a press release.