Column: Your power probably isn't shutting off, regardless of what the 'utility' says
It would be nice, considering everything else going on, if I didn’t have to issue periodic reminders to watch out for scammers.
Utilities nationwide and throughout California have warned customers to be on the alert for such calls and to not fall for the threats of service shutdowns. Edison received nearly 8,600 reports of scam calls to customers through August, Gales said, resulting in losses of almost $214,000.But she picked up the phone as a recent caller left a message saying he was with Edison and warning that her electricity was about to be cut off because of unpaid bills.“Most of these types of calls, the person sounds like a robot,” Supple said. “This guy sounded real. He sounded like a gentleman.
The caller steadily built on his seeming legitimacy. He then said he needed to place Supple on hold to look more closely at her file.When the caller came back on the line, he provided Supple with a case number and said the service cutoff would proceed unless the couple made an “express payment.”“I turned to my husband and said, ‘I think this is a scam,’” she told me. “Then I got back on the phone and told the guy this sounded like a scam.”She was right to be on the alert for any rapid payment.
“Utility companies don’t demand banking information by email or phone,” the agency says. “And they won’t force you to pay by phone as your only option.”Moreover, “if the caller demands payment by gift card, cash reload card, wiring money or cryptocurrency, it is a scam,” the FTC says.
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