The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is asking that community members be made aware of a new scam going around. People are being cold-called by would-be scammers with spoofed telephone numbers, often with the same prefix as the intended victim’s own phone, and greeted by a recording saying, “This is an apology from your electric company.”
The caller then offers a rebate due to overcharging, and if the intended victim stays on, a live caller joins and attempts to solicit bank information. Please note that this is a scam and there is no such active rebate program currently being offered by any major utility in California and should one ever be offered, it would likely be in the form of bill credits.
The Federal Communications Commission investigates such scams and the CPUC advises that you immediately hang up on any such calls received. For a list of common and current scams visit USA.org at https://www.usa.gov/common-scams-frauds.
