The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office on Monday issued a warning to Pennsylvanians about a new scam targeting customers of PECO.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said the scam involves fraudulent phone calls, text messages, and emails demanding immediate payment.
In addition, the scam utilizes spoofed numbers appearing to originate from PECO with scammers alleging issues with the customer’s meter and threatening service disconnection, law enforcement officials said.
PECO said it does not demand immediate payment or specify payment methods such as cash, prepaid debit cards, credit cards, gift cards, or cryptocurrency. The company said it would never request payment in a particular form over the phone.
To protect against these scams, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office provided tips:
- PECO will never contact you and request immediate payment in a specific form such as cash, cryptocurrency, a prepaid debit card, credit card, gift card or a wire transfer;
- Understand that scammers create fake phone numbers to make the call appear to be from PECO. This does not mean it is a legitimate call;
- It’s important to never provide your account information to an unverified person. A legitimate PECO representative will already know your account information such as account holder name, street address, balanced owed, and form of payment on file;
- Never provide your bank or credit card information to an unverified person; and
- If you receive a suspicious phone call claiming to be from PECO, just hang up and call PECO directly at 1-800-494-4000.
Consumers are advised to contact PECO directly with any service-related questions, authorities said.
Those who believe they have fallen victim to this scam are encouraged to file a complaint with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. Complaints can be submitted via the official website, email, or by calling the office at 1-800-441-2555.
