Scams can be scary!

One scam I saw a few months ago was a phone call from someone pretending to be my electric company. They told me my account was past due and already “in collections,” and that my power was going to be shut off that same day if I didn’t make a payment right away. It caught me off guard because the call came out of nowhere, and the person on the phone sounded very serious, like they were reading from real account notes or something.

The whole point of the scam was to freak me out enough that I’d pay before thinking. They kept repeating that the shutoff was already scheduled, which is obviously meant to rush people. They also told me I had to pay using a weird method like a prepaid card which didn’t make sense, but in the moment it was still stressful. The number on caller ID looked close to my utility company, so at first it didn’t seem completely fake.

Once I had a minute to breathe, I realized there were signs it wasn’t legit. My electric company would send emails or written notices first, not last minute threats over the phone. They don’t make people pay through gift cards or anything random like that. A real representative would also let you hang up and call the main customer service number to confirm your account. When I tried to do that, the scam caller kept talking over me and pushing me to “just take care of it now.” That was the biggest red flag.

If someone else gets a call like that, the safest thing to do is hang up and call the company directly using the number on your bill or their website.