PECO warning customers of debit card scam
Fraudsters are targeting PECO customers in scam that threatens victims with service interruptions if payments from pre-paid debit cards aren't made immediately, the utility company said Thursday.
The scam, which PECO said is occurring across the country, begins when a customer receives a phone call from a person stating overdue bills must be paid immediately to avoid service termination, officials said in a statement.
The customer is then told to purchase a pre-paid debit card to pay off the overdue balance. The scammer then gives a phone number to contact and give the debit card information. Once the information is provided, the funds on the card are removed.
"We want to make our customers aware of this scam so they can protect themselves from becoming victims of this and other fraudulent activities," said Mark Alden, PECO vice president of Customer Operations. "We will not tolerate anyone taking advantage of our customers. We are working closely with local police to investigate any instances of scamming in our service territory so that these individuals can be caught and brought to justice."
PECO gave the following tips to avoid scams:
- If customers receive a call from someone who says they are calling to collect a bill payment for PECO, the caller should be able to provide information specific to the customer’s account. This includes the following information:
- Account Name
- Account Address
- Account Number
- Amount of Current Balance
If a customer thinks they have received a call from a scammer, they are asked to immediately contact PECO at (800) 494-4000 to report the incident.
Contact Brian X. McCrone at 215-854-2267 or bmccrone@philly.com. Follow @brianxmccrone on Twitter.
