Pennsylvania man warns PECO imposter callers may already have your account number
A Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, man says he was almost duped by a scam caller threatening his utilities would be shut off.
Dan Deming said he had his doubts about the legitimacy of the call almost as soon as he answered.
"A gentleman on the other end told me that he was from PECO," Deming said, "and that my service was about to be shut off."
Deming said he knows it's common for scammers to impersonate utility companies. PECO Energy Company warns customers should never give out their account number over the phone if they're suspicious of the call. The utility company's website says a real PECO representative will have the account information they need when they call.
But as the conversation continued Deming, a 48-year-old IT software specialist, started to doubt himself and what he thought he knew about spotting scams.
"I was pretty conflicted," he said. "I know they try to instill this sense of urgency that your account is going to be shut off and you're going to lose your electricity to try to get you to break out the pocketbook. But on the other hand, the guy was very well-spoken, very smooth — a smooth talker — and he had all this information about me."
Deming said the scam caller already had his PECO account number and address.
"He also mentioned my account number had recently changed and he had that earlier account number as well," Deming said, adding the caller referred to the utility company's recent billing system switchover as the cause.
What Deming did next is what PECO recommends you should always do when you doubt an unsolicited call. He hung up and called the company back directly.
The representative Deming spoke with confirmed he was not facing a shutoff.
"That was kind of the one thing that had been drilled into me that, luckily, I stuck to that day," Deming said.
These kinds of scam calls have become so common that PECO has an entire section of its website with warning signs, including that it will never just call once to demand payment because state law requires several notices first.
PECO advises customers to call and report any suspicious calls, texts, emails or visits to the company directly at 800-494-4000. A spokesperson said as of September of this year, the company has received more than 1,500 suspected scam reports.
A PECO spokesperson said the utility is aware of scammers trying to confuse customers by taking advantage of the company's recent billing system switchover but added this is the first instance they've been made aware of where a scammer already had a customer's account number. They didn't have an explanation for how that could've happened.
You can also report suspicious activity to your local police. If you feel you've fallen victim to a scam you can submit a complaint to the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection through this website, or by emailing scams@attorneygeneral.gov or calling 800-441-2555.
Scammers have also been known to use 'spoofed' phone numbers — those seemingly affiliated with PECO — to claim there are issues with a customer's meter.
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