SMECO: Avoid Payment Scammers

Criminals are always finding ways to target new victims, and Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative is warning its customer-members to be on the lookout for a new round of scammers. Technology has made scammers more proficient, and phone scams are becoming more common.

The elderly and people who speak English as a second language are often the most targeted, but businesses have recently been targeted, said Tom Dennison, managing director of government and public affairs at SMECO. One business owner was told his power would be cut off within an hour if he didn’t make a payment.

“That business owner was focused on a major event he was preparing for, and he became alarmed. Rather than taking a few minutes to contact SMECO directly to check his account, he made a payment over the phone to the fraudulent caller,” Mr. Dennison said.

Several factors contribute to the scammers’ idea of targeting businesses. First, a business’s bill is usually higher, so the scammers can claim the owner owes $1,500, rather than just $200. Also, a business might have more than one person paying bills, so criminals exploit the potential lack of communication between employees and owners.

A tool scammers have been able to use is their ability to make the name of the utility appear on a customer’s caller ID; plus, they can trick people by duplicating voice recordings and imitating utility phone systems.

“Some of the ways these scammers can imitate the utility are pretty convincing. A scammer who provided a call-back number even used voice prompts that were recorded from SMECO’s phone system,” Mr. Dennison said.

The appearance on the market of alternative energy suppliers also has complicated the issue. Solar companies who are legitimately trying to offer their services may confuse customers. Mr. Dennison said to keep in mind that “customers should never feel obligated to provide their account information. Legitimate companies can provide services without requiring a customer’s account number.”

Mr. Dennison offered a list of suggestions to help customer-members.

“Customers should try to be aware of their typical monthly bills and their due dates. Electric utilities follow state regulations and have set schedules for billing and payment,” Mr. Dennison explained. “That frantic business owner I described had never had his power cut off before and he wasn’t familiar with our procedures.” SMECO has a set routine for collecting payments from customers.

• Unknown callers who threaten to cut off service within an hour or two are probably running a scam.
• SMECO will mail a termination notice to the customer if a bill is past due.
• SMECO calls about past due balances using an automated phone system with a recorded message; it’s rare for a SMECO employee to make personal “collection” phone calls.
• Collection calls are made about 10 days before service is to be terminated. SMECO does not require payment at the time of the call.
• SMECO does not make collection calls or terminate service on weekends or holidays.
• If service is going to be terminated, a SMECO collector will knock on the customer’s door before turning off service.
• SMECO collectors will accept credit card payments, checks, or money orders, but they do not accept cash.

Customers who know they owe money can contact SMECO to make arrangements.

“Because SMECO does initiate automated collection calls and customers can choose to make a payment over the phone, some phone calls are legitimate,” Mr. Dennison said.

Fraudulent activities also are conducted by email. Customers who receive electronic bill notices should not open emails from an unfamiliar source. An email from SMECO will contain account-specific information, like the customer’s name and the first few digits of the account number, and they use the co-op’s distinctive orange and green colors. Emails that contain a number of grammar and spelling mistakes are probably not legitimate. If an email looks suspicious, it could contain malware or links to a virus-infected website. Customers who receive a suspicious email should not open it or click on any links; they can just delete the email.

For customers who believe they have received a fraudulent email or phone call, follow these basic guidelines.

• Use the phone number printed on your monthly bill and only give payment information over the phone if you initiate the contact.
• Do not provide personal information, banking information, user names, passwords, or account information to unauthorized callers or in an email.
• Do not provide Green Dot, Western Union, or Moneygram payments to unauthorized callers.
• Never meet unauthorized callers at a local store or bank to make a payment — your personal safety could be at risk.

“If customers receive a phone call from someone threatening to disconnect their power, they may hang up. If they want to verify account information, they can call SMECO directly. Our contact center is open 24 hours a day, every day. SMECO’s phone number is 1-888-440-3311, and it’s printed on every customer bill,” Mr. Dennison said.

SMECO has issued alerts when customers have notified the co-op of these scams. “Not only are scams a nuisance, but these crooks can steal thousands of dollars from unsuspecting residents and businesses,” Mr. Dennison said. “We want to help prevent this type of crime by educating our customers whenever we hear about people being tricked out of their hard-earned money.”

Mr. Dennison said SMECO has a variety of ways for customers to pay their bills and prevent confusion. There’s budget billing, where they pay the same amount every month; AutoPay so payments are made automatically with a credit card or checking account; or you can go online and make weekly payments if that helps with a personal budget.

“We offer a variety of payment methods that are free and convenient because our goal is to make it easy for customer-members to do business with SMECO, but we also want to help protect people from scams,” he said.

For more information, visit SMECO’s scam-stopping website.

To learn more about SMECO, visit their Leader Member Page.