Piedmont Electric has just been alerted to yet another scam that is trying to separate electric cooperative members from their hard-earned cash. The caller didn’t mention the co-op by name, but stated that his local power provider had given names and cell numbers of people who had paid their electric bill and were eligible to win $1.5 million. The caller claimed that drawings were held every month. The caller started by asking some general questions, but soon moved on to more personal questions. This co-op member looked up the name “American Cashiers Lottery” that the caller provided on the Internet and it said it was a scam. The caller ID came up as area code 876 from the island of Jamaica, although the man on the phone claimed to be based out of New York.
If you are contacted by someone claiming to represent your co-op or calling on behalf of your co-op, who asks for personal information such as your social security number, bank routing number, PIN number, passwords, indicates that you are eligible for a lottery, request you to purchase a prepaid card to avoid having your electricity turned off, offers free energy audit without you having requested one, etc., first call Piedmont Electric at 800.222.3107 to verify if it’s a scam, and then call your local authorities to report it!
