MANSFIELD, Ohio — An educated public may be the best defense against scam artists–that’s what Dan DeVille, area manager of FirstEnergy, advocated during Mansfield City Council’s regular meeting Tuesday, Sept. 15.
He described the different ways in which utility customers are being scammed, noting, “There are several very sophisticated scam artists out in our communities today.”
One method that scam artists use is threatening phone calls. He said that scam artists have called residents, claiming that they have a utility line truck nearby and that if the residents don’t pay a certain amount of money immediately, their power will be shut off.
“They use scare tactics,” he described of the scammers, adding, “Our employees don’t use that type of methodology.”
The FirstEnergy website says that customers who are behind on their accounts will receive written notices of a possible disconnection and how to prevent it. “Our representatives will not call or email to demand immediate payment or threaten imminent shutoff,” the website states.
It adds, “If a caller threatens to shut off your power unless immediate payment is received, hang up. If you wish to verify your account status, call customer service using the numbers listed on our website or log in to your account.”
DeVille said if a utility worker visits a customer at his or her home, the customer can call the utility company to confirm that the visit was authorized.
The FirstEnergy website advises, “Do not allow anyone claiming to be a utility employee into your home unless you scheduled an appointment and the employee has provided proper identification. Our utility employees typically visit a home only in response to a service request or after providing prior notification.” It also states, “FirstEnergy utility employees always carry photo identification, and many of our field employees wear uniforms and drive clearly marked company vehicles.”
DeVille said in some instances, scammers, who identify themselves as an “authorized agent of Ohio Edison,” show up at customers’ houses after a storm has occurred. They’ll claim that the electrical service entrances were damaged by the storm and say that if the customers don’t get them repaired immediately, their power will be shut off.
Another scam he discussed was the Green Dot card scam. A Green Dot card is a prepaid debit card that is available at many convenience stores. DeVille said that scammers will call customers, saying that they have a past due balance and that they should make the payment using a Green Dot card.
He warned that the scam artists are using sophisticated methods to trick people, namely Caller ID spoofing software, which misrepresents the source of a phone call.
He encouraged people to visit the FirstEnegryCorp.com website to learn more about how to protect oneself from scams.
“We believe that an educated consumer is one that’s going to be able to fight against those types of situations,” he said.
