10 months ago
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FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - As the Valley faces different vigor wave, PG&E is informing customers to look retired for scams.
According to Jeff Smith with PG&E, scammers often people customers during the summertime erstwhile bills are higher.
"During the summertime months, sometimes peculiarly present successful the Central Valley, due to the fact that bills tin get high, customers whitethorn get down connected their bills. And this is simply a cleanable accidental for scammers to people them and marque them deliberation that if they don't wage their bills immediately, that their powerfulness is going to beryllium unopen off," Smith said. "They'll telephone your compartment phone, and they'll say, 'Hey, we recognize that you are down connected your bill. You request to wage your PGE measure instantly oregon your powerfulness is going to beryllium unopen off.'"
Customers tin suffer wealth to fake websites created by scammers. They whitethorn besides telephone astir refunds the inferior institution owes them and proceed to inquire for their idiosyncratic accusation successful bid to person the funds.
“They make dummy websites; they make dummy telephone numbers. They tin marque their telephone number, erstwhile they telephone your compartment phone, look similar it whitethorn beryllium coming from a PG&E fig oregon a morganatic 1-800 number," Smith said.
In 2024, Smith says much than 500 scams person been reported successful Fresno and Clovis. Overall, scams person outgo PG&E customers nearly $375,000 crossed the company's work country this year. PG&E reports that the mean scam unfortunate loses much than $600.
"They prey connected fear, and they enactment to marque idiosyncratic consciousness fearful that they’re going to suffer their power," Smith said.
He says determination are definite communities that look a higher hazard of getting scammed.
"A mates of the astir communal types of individuals that they spell aft are the aged due to the fact that sometimes they tin usage exertion to confuse those that whitethorn not beryllium arsenic acquainted with computers and things similar that. And past folks wherever English is simply a 2nd language. They'll telephone to a lawsuit speaking English, demanding contiguous payment. And possibly that lawsuit speaks a small spot of English but isn't fluent successful it, and that makes them tense due to the fact that they're not definite that they're afloat understanding," Smith said. "If we did request to enactment with the lawsuit wherever English was not their archetypal language, we person representatives that talk those languages and tin enactment with them. We're not going to beryllium threatening idiosyncratic successful a connection that they're unfamiliar with, similar these scammers do."
Smith says if thing doesn't consciousness right, bent up instantly and dial the company's lawsuit work fig to verify if the telephone is legitimate. If you fishy you're being scammed, you tin telephone 1-833-500-SCAM oregon sojourn the company's spam page.
