SAN DIEGO — San Diego Gas & Electric is warning customers of a spike in scams threatening to cut off power service unless customers pay their utility bills with prepaid cards. The utility said it would never initiate calls to customers demanding payment or risk power loss.
Tom Towns said he got a text message this week that read it was from SDG&E saying it would turn off the power in a home he rents out in Lakeside, and he believed it was true.
“This just struck a nerve at the right time, they told me to go to 7/11 and buy a money card,” Towns said.
First, he said he was told put $198 then $498 on a prepaid card from a number at 1800-219-0490, and Towns said he went to several convenience stores looking for the exact money card.
“It can be really confusing for customers because it sounds really legit, but at SDG&E, we're never going to proactively ask for their financial information over the phone,” said SDG&E Spokesperson Sara Prince.
SDG&E cautioned customers that a new wave of scammers is targeting them with a common tactic of impersonating SDG&E's billing department and asking for payment via Green Dot MoneyPak, which is a way of sending cash via prepaid or bank debit cards.
“Hang up the phone immediately, it's a scam, and they’re trying to take advantage of this timing and slide in there to appear more legitimate,” Prince said.
But 87-year-old Arthur Savedra of Chula Vista said he stayed on the phone and followed through.
“My first thought is when they shut off all my power services, what am I going to do?” he said.
Savedra said he got a call on Monday from a man named Ben Lopez with SDG&E, who told him his electricity would be turned off soon even though Savedra’s account was paid up.
“He told me I would have to speak to a supervisor and get two money cards for $490 each, and I fell for it,” Savedra said.
Savedra said his defenses were low as he was stuck in traffic at the border crossing for hours after adding a roof to his home in Rosarito and caring for his 88-year-old partner. He got scammed out of $1,485 which he put on prepaid cards and then provided the number over the phone to the representative posing as a worker for SDG&E.
“They told me the money would be returned to me following an investigation completed by Thursday and urged me to tell the store cashier that my purchase was personal and not a payment to anyone, or they would charge me extra,” Savedra said.
Tom Towns too followed scammer instructions.
"The guy on the phone told me to do buy the card, put $500 on it, scratch the thing off, call him and give him the magic number on the back of this card,” Towns said.
But Towns said a Walgreens Manager helped him in the nick of time by questioning his purchase.
"The manager at Walgreens Lakeside said 'why are you getting the card?' and it dawned on me the guy on the phone said don't tell anybody why you're getting the MoneyCard, so I never sent it, I went back and thanked the manager," he said.
Towns said it is a lesson learned even though he’s unsure how he can get the money back off the card.
"If you go through the whole rigmarole, you know they're setting you up,” Towns said.
Savedra wasn’t so lucky. He called his bank, which told him the money already left the account. He reported it to Chula Vista police, and an officer told him to not lose hope as investigators could still potentially track down the scammers once they use the prepaid cards.
“I wasn’t in my true senses to be truthful. I’m smarter than that. It’s a horrible world we’re living in and we don’t need any of this going on,” Savedra said.
Victims of fraud are urged to call SDG&E immediately at 1-800-411-7343 or the police to report it. Officials advise customers talk with friends, relatives or store employees before putting any money on prepaid cards.