Last Thursday, I got a text from my office manager while I was at the airport going on vacation with my family. She got a call at the office from a power company representative saying our power bill was 2 months overdue, and I needed to make a payment by 5 pm today, or they’ll shut off the power. I was boarding my flight in just a few minutes. “Ain’t nobody got time for dat!” I told her I’d have to get back to her. We were literally running to our next flight, as the connection was very tight.
Crap! I’m on auto-pay! What happened? I’m pretty sure I remember payment going through recently. And, if you’re past due, they usually send you warnings by mail. We got no such letters. Hmmm…. something isn’t right. Plus the total for “2 months” is way higher than what it would normally be for two months.
My office manager took the guy’s name and number. But, then she smartly called the power company via their official number. Turns out, I’m current on my bill! Well, YEAH! Duh!
Shit! It was a scam! In my impending vacation panic, I briefly considered giving a CC# to my office manager to take care of it. But, I didn’t. After she called the power company, she texted me again (as I sat on the plane ready for takeoff), telling me it was a scam. Phew!
These scamming mofos probably target small businesses like mine, knowing that the thought of the power being turned off is mortifying. And, I’d bet some fall for it and give them a CC#.
I’m back from my vacation, and I’m thinking about calling this guy back just to mess with him. Stay tuned for updates.
Edit to add: Apparently, this is a “thing!” Here’s an ambitious “scam baiter” leading one of these guys on… for a long time! Funny!
Update (6/27/17): I called the number back today just for fun. The number was no longer in service.
I was hit by the same scam about a month ago. They had me going for a while until I asked to speak to a “supervisor”. The next person I talked with sounded similar to the first and neither of them sounded local. I asked him his location and he stated “Murfreesboro” like he was reading it for the first time. Hearing this, I was certain this was a scam and started having a little fun. I then started asking the county, what city he was next to, the local college, etc. He kept trying to steer the conversation back to me making a payment. I finally told him what to do and hung up. I contacted my electric company and was informed that they recently had a few people report the same scam.
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Ha! Would have been fun to have a recording of your conversation!
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Exact same thing happened to me about year ago, only I was in the office, we are also on auto pay, one of my girls in the front panicked but my wife was at the office at the time and had a field day with them (she pays the bills).
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They have tried it at my office 3 times!!!! The first time almost got me because I was so busy at my office I didn’t give it my full attention! BEWARE
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What is with these people? If they would put effort into doing something with meaning they would be fine! How about the old toner cartridge one?
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Toner cartridge scam?? Never heard of it. Please describe. 🙂
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What kind of spam involved in toner ?
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