A Globe colleague recently got two unsettling calls on his mobile phone from the same “888″ number.
He received the first call a couple of weeks ago from someone who said he was from Eversource (spoiler alert: he wasn’t) and that the electricity to his house would be turned off in “40 to 45 minutes” because his account was overdue.
“Are you really from Eversource?” my colleague asked, more a statement than a question.
The caller quickly hung up.
Then, last week, he got an almost identical call from “Eversource,” including the same threat to disconnect the electricity in “40 to 45 minutes.”
“I know this is a scam,” my colleague said, and hung up.
Imposter scams — in which perpetrators try to swindle consumers by saying they are calling from a utility, government agency, or other entity — are the most common type of scams reported to the Federal Trade Commission. Last year, the FTC logged almost half a million complaints, totaling $1.2 billion in losses to consumers.
Last year’s consumer loss in imposter scams was almost twice as much as the previous year’s, according to the FTC.
The scam artists who pose as a representative of a utility typically demand quick payment of hundreds of dollars to prevent the shutoff of electricity, gas, or water, and convince victims to pay with a prepaid debit card or by giving the scammer bank account information over the phone.
“Utilities deal with this all the time,” said Reid Lamberty, an Eversource spokesman. “Our customers are inundated with it.”
Eversource is one of about 140 utilities that have banded together in a national consortium to fight scams. A representative of that group told me its members have seen a tremendous surge in imposter scams since the pandemic began. Last year, he said, the consortium helped to shut down almost 4,000 phony toll-free numbers used by scammers, compared to about 1,500 a year prior to the pandemic.
Here’s the takeaway: Never pay money under the threat of an imminent shutoff coming from a voice on the phone.
Utilities do occasionally turn off service due to nonpayment. But you will get multiple notices in the mail over weeks before that happens. It’s a deliberate process, not a sudden call with less than an hour’s notice.
(In Massachusetts, a state-ordered moratorium on shutoffs of utilities has been in effect since the pandemic began and is scheduled to remain in effect until at least July 1; in Rhode Island, a moratorium is in effect until at least June 25.)
“We never threaten to disconnect service by phone, and we never demand instant payment,” Lamberty said. “Anyone who hears the word ‘disconnect’ should hang up the phone.”
That’s what Attorney General Maura Healey recently did.
“I just got a call from a scammer posing as Eversource, claiming I was behind on my payments and threatening to cut off my service,” Healey tweeted on March 18. “Needless to say, he called the wrong attorney general.”
I just got a call from a scammer posing as Eversource, claiming I was behind on my payments and threatening to cut off my service.
— Maura Healey (@MassAGO) March 19, 2021
Needless to say, he called the wrong attorney general.
If you get one of these calls—hang up, don't give out any info, and contact your utility.
The FTC provides these tips:
“If you get a call out of the blue and the caller claims you have to pay a past due bill or your services will be shut off, never give banking information over the phone. To pay your bill over the phone, always place the call to a number you know is legitimate.
“Utility companies don’t demand payment information by e-mail, text, or phone. And they won’t force you to pay by phone as your only option.
“If the caller tells you to pay by gift card, cash reload card, money transfer, or cryptocurrency, it’s a scam. Every time. No matter what they say.”
And scammers are increasingly sending text messages. Last year, the number of unsolicited text messages sent to consumers tripled, compared to the previous year, the FTC says.
Last week, I received a text saying, “Sean, you still have $130 Amazon Rewards credit. See what you can buy before it expires.”
A few hours later, I got this text: “Amazon: Congratulations GARY, you came in 1st in March’s Amazon pods raffle!”
Both texts included a hyperlink. But I did not click on either of them. (And neither should you click on links that come unsolicited.) Instead, I checked my Amazon account for any evidence of a “credit” or a “raffle.” There was none.
After I sent screenshots of the text messages to Amazon, a company representative assured me they were scams.
If I had clicked on one of the links, it would have taken me to a Web page designed to look like Amazon’s and asking me to type in personal information, like username, password, credit card number, and bank information, the Amazon rep said. That’s the kind of information scammers use to steal your identity, order products at your expense, and make withdrawals from your bank account.
“We don’t communicate this way,” the Amazon rep said. “And we never ask for personal information from customers.”
Anyone who receives a questionable e-mail, call, or text from a person impersonating an Amazon employee can report them to customer service. “Amazon investigates these complaints and will take action, if warranted,” the Amazon rep said.
Got a problem? Send your consumer issue to sean.murphy@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @spmurphyboston.
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