West Seattle scam alert: Fake ‘City Light’ callers, again

| Crime | Utilities | West Seattle news

Thanks to community advocate Tracy Dart for sharing the word that another local business (not hers) has been targeted by the bogus “City Light” telephone-call scam. We’ve reported on versions of this scam at least four times in the past year, most recently here. Bottom line, whether you’re a business or a residence, if you get a phone call from someone claiming you’re facing imminent disconnection, DON’T FALL FOR IT – if you aren’t sure of your billing status, hang up and call the utility directly yourself to check. (And call the police!)

tim October 14, 2014 (5:49 pm)

Has SPD ever caught scam artists like this? I wonder how they catch them. I’ve heard of agencies using a special system AT&T has, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/02/us/drug-agents-use-vast-phone-trove-eclipsing-nsas.html slides at http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/09/02/us/hemisphere-project.html?_r=0 (page 20 has a Seattle case study)

timh2o October 14, 2014 (5:52 pm)

We also got one of the fake Seattle Times bill in the mail. They wanted us to send 500 bucks to an Oregon address. About the same time received a real Times bill.

TDe October 14, 2014 (6:00 pm)

We had one of those calls last week telling us the power would be shut off in 45 minutes if we didn’t call back with payment. Called the number and they answered “Puget Sound Energy” which we knew was bogus because there’s no direct person answering the phone at PSE without going though a menu of button pushing first. Called PSE and they affirmed that our bill was not delinquent and this was a scam call. They’ve been getting a lot of calls from customers lately and advised us to call the State Attorney General’s office.

brandon October 14, 2014 (7:17 pm)

I would love to get a call from them and try to arrange a face to face meet. ‘cept it’d be Officer Friendly going to the meet with the hook.

WestSide45 October 14, 2014 (8:09 pm)

I really like to keep these folks on the phone, feigning interest and acting concerned, just to see how much of their time I can waste. Since I wasn’t doing anything else and, since it’s a game to me, it doesn’t feel like I’m wasting my time.

Jenny October 15, 2014 (5:53 pm)

This happened to me 3 times this year, the 3rd time just now. Had the caller give me their name and phone number. I then called Seattle City Light, my account was fine, they confirmed that they do not call or shut off without written notice. They also let me know to only contact the police (non emergency line 206.625.5011 2# then 8#) if you have actually paid them. I called hoping that the name and phone number I retrieved from the caller and from my caller ID would help get these suckers. Unfortunately I was informed they are using burner phones, so they are not able to track them.

BlairJ October 16, 2014 (11:21 am)

Jenny, what is a “burner phone”?

Brian October 16, 2014 (10:20 pm)

@BlairJ: It’s a type of cell phone you buy at a convenience store that has minutes pre-loaded onto it. Usually once all the minutes have been used, the phone is disposed of (“burned”).

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