PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — PECO says there has been a recent rise in "spoofing" — instances in which scammers call to get people to cough up money they don't actually owe.
The utility company sent a message to customers warning them about such scams, which involve phone calls, texts, emails or even in-person visits from fake PECO employees. Scott Smith was one of the customers who received a phone call.
"I saw PECO come up [on the phone] and I'm like, 'OK, no big deal. I'll take the call, something must be up,'" said Smith, owner of J.A. Smith Heating & Air Conditioning in Warminster, Bucks County.
The scammers who "spoof" will manipulate caller ID to make it look like the call is coming from a familiar source.
"They were saying my account was past due and they were going to come over and shut my electric off in the next half hour or hour because someone was on the way," Smith said.
He and his wife knew they didn't owe PECO the $80 or $100 that was asked of them. He pressed the caller, who kept denying that it was a scam. When Smith asked to speak with a manager, the caller transferred him to someone else — who continued the con.
"The thing that started tipping me off to their scam was, 'Oh, we need a payment of some other way other than logging into my PECO account and paying it online,'" he recalled.
Such requests never come from legitimate PECO representatives, according to spokesperson Tom Brubaker.
"Most of these scammers are requiring payment through gift cards, cryptocurrency, bitcoin, those types of things," Brubaker said. "PECO never requires payment through those methods and customers should be aware."
He said PECO's disconnection process for non-payment includes six or seven notifications, so customers should not be fooled by an abrupt phone call.
The company said it gets reports of up to 2,000 scams each year, with a flurry of activity just as the calendar flips.
"We typically see an increase in scam activity at the beginning of the year," Brubaker added. "Customers are dealing with Christmas bills and upcoming tax season and can be distracted and fall for one of these scams."
Customers are advised to call PECO at 1-800-494-4000 to report suspicious calls or messages.
