AUGUSTA – Maine’s attorney general is alerting people about a scam in which people receive phone messages warning that they’ve reached the credit limit on their Visa cards.

People who call the toll-free number get an automated recording identified as “Visa credit limit support.” They’re asked to provide their name, credit card number and the card’s security number. After that the scammers have the personal information and people are told that the hold wait will be an hour.

The complaints started coming in to the attorney general’s office on Wednesday.

Attorney General Steven Rowe says Visa does not contact cardholders directly. Instead, correspondence with Visa cardholders is initiated by the issuing bank.