Two Massachusetts men are accused of posing as federal workers and scamming a Maine woman out of $40,000 in a PayPal scam.

Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. said in a news release Wednesday evening that the men posed as Department of Justice employees when they approached the woman. After Sheriff’s Office deputies learned of the scam, they waited at the woman’s home, arresting the pair when they came for more money.

The victim believed he picked up a virus on his phone from ads on a solitaire app sometime around Christmas. That started a cascade of events.

The men were arrested when they returned to the woman's home to collect an additional $32,000, authorities said.

The two suspects allegedly pretended to be Department of Justice employees and demanded the money through PayPal as part of a fake investigation.