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PUD scam making the rounds again

CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 6 years, 1 month AGO
by CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | December 13, 2018 2:00 AM

EPHRATA — A classic scam is making its way around again, targeting Grant County PUD customers.

“A large number of customers” have received phone calls, “using terms like ‘disconnect orders’ and telling them they will have their power shut off unless they make an immediate payment,” wrote Ryan Holterhoff, PUD public affairs officer. So far, none of the PUD customers have fallen for the recent calls, said Chuck Allen, PUD public affairs supervisor.

There are times when Grant PUD employees do call customers to talk about an account, but in those cases the PUD is trying “to inform the customer of their account status and not trying to get the customer to make an immediate decision over the phone,” Allen wrote.

The PUD scam has been around for years, but the scammers are learning and getting more sophisticated in their approach, Allen said.

“It used to be these phone scammers were over the top in their tone and language, and they would try to aggressively bully customers into making a snap decision,” Allen wrote. “Now it seems they are trying to use language that might actually come from a utility. They also are trying to be more and more crafty by setting up their caller ID to look like it’s coming from a local number.”

Utility district customers are encouraged to hang up if they think a call is suspicious, then contact the PUD. “Even if we are making a legitimate courtesy call to our customers, we promise we won’t mind if the customer tells us they are going to hang up and call us back to verify the call,” he said. Customers who think they’ve been targeted for a scam can contact the PUD at its customer service line, 509-766-2505.

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