OPPD wants customers to know they received an increase in reports of scam callers after the storm-related power outages recently. Jodi Baker, Media Specialist for OPPD, says this scam has been ongoing for a number of years – both locally and nationally. She says the scammers will say the residents owe money on an overdue bill. Baker says next they demand residents purchase payment cards of some sort and call back with the card numbers, threatening to turn off their power if they don’t do so quickly.
“Don’t fall for anybody who cold-calls you demanding cash, we don’t operate that way. If you actually were overdue on your bill, we would send you a notice by mail first, and we’d ask you to call us. And that’s what we ask customers to do – if they get a call like this that is suspicious – if they have any questions whatsoever -- we ask that they just hang up and dial us directly at 1-877-536-4131.”
Baker says these latest scam calls seem to have been randomly placed. In the past though, they’ve noticed waves targeting certain types of businesses as well as non-English speakers.
For more information, the website is OPPD.com