GREENVILLE, S.C. – It’s hard to imagine enduring these cold temperatures without power in your home, but scammers are capitalizing on that fear.
Crooks who posed as Duke Energy technicians scammed two local businesses out of nearly $4000 dollars this week.
The Greenville Police say these scammers demand these businesses pay their bill with a gift card or pre-paid debit card
“If they don’t pay it then they are going to have their power cut off,” explained Greenville Police Officer, Jonathan Bragg.
The danger from this type of scam is that your family could be next.
Police don’t want you to be fooled.
Ask yourself, would the power company really cut the heat off when you’re seeing single-digit temperatures?
“We would never call up a customer and ask for a payment in an immediate fashion like that. We have certain standards where in extreme cold and warm weather, we just suspend disconnections from people who have not paid their bills, so I can guarantee you that we’re not going to disconnect anybody over the next couple of days,” explained Duke Energy Spokesman, Ryan Mosier.
As for this scam, police believe this can spread to elderly and vulnerable targets, so they urge you to report these calls to your energy providers or police to put a stop to these crooks.
Victims said these scammers are convincing. They give a name, a technician number and a 1-800 phone number to fool you.
Police say always hang up and call your provider first at the number listed on their official website to determine if the call is legitimate.