This is a friendly reminder from the Sebastopol Police Department regarding scammers posing as PG&E employees. Today, a citizen came to the police department to report that they had received a phone call from PG&E demanding immediate payment on their utility account.
This scam usually involves receiving a phone call from PG&E regarding past due issues on a public utility account. The demand is usually for immediate payment for hundreds of dollars, by phone, and the intended victim is directed to make payment through the use of prepaid debit cards.
PG&E does not conduct debt collection in this manner, and if you receive a call that is similar to this incident, please take some extra steps to ensure that the call is from a legitimate source. PG&E can be contacted through their customer service line, in order to verify any past due account issues, and they do not rely on aggressive collection tactics that involve the account holder obtaining prepaid debit cards.
Additionally, if you believe you are the target of a phone scammer, you are encourage to simply hang up the phone and not be intimidated.
Please share this information widely, with your friends and neighbors, especially with our community's elders.
For further information, please call the Sebastopol Police Department at (707) 829-4400.
