Recent-Scams

1……One of our residents received a call from an individual claiming to represent PG&E. The caller SCAMMER told the resident that his PG&E bill had not been paid and his electricity would be shut off in two hours if this payment was not made in cash at a PG&E outlet. The SCAMMER recommended that to expedite payment, the resident should meet the PG&E representative at a nearby 7-11 store and that the PG&E representative will accept payment and have a “contract to accept payment.”

The scammer was very smooth, but kept reminding the resident that time was running out and the only way to prevent the electricity from being shut off was this cash payment to a PG&E representative. The resident was very SHARP, ALERT AND AWARE and did not fall for this SCAM. It so happened that when this resident received the SCAM call he had his PG&E bill on his desk and it showed no payment due!!!!

PG&E WILL NOT CALL YOU WITH THREATS LIKE THIS!!!

IF YOU DO RECEIVE SUCH A CALL, JUST HANG UP!! WHEN IN DOUBT, ASK FOR A RETURN PHONE NUMBER, HANG UP AND CALL PG&E DIRECTLY. PG&E HAS A WEBSITE WHICH WARNS OF SCAMS JUST LIKE THIS ONE.

THE TECHNIQUE USED HERE IS THE SCARE TACTIC, i.e., THREAT AND THE URGENT NEED FOR IMMEDIATE PAYMENT.

2……In this scam the resident received an email, with his son’s correct EMAIL address. In this email, allegedly from the resident’s son, the resident was asked to buy a $200 gift card for a birthday gift. The resident purchased the card and forwarded the information via email back to what he believed to be his son. Apparently a SCAMMER had hacked into the son’s EMAIL account without the resident’s knowledge. The loss was $200 dollars.

AS A PRECAUTION, ANYTIME YOU ARE INVOLVED IN ANY MONETARY TRANSACTIONS, IT IS BEST TO VERIFY ANY MONEY REQUEST BY PHONE, AND/OR DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE PERSON REQUESTING THE MONEY. HACKERS CAN GET ACCESS TO YOUR COMPUTER WITHOUT YOUR KNOWLEDGE, AS INDICATED ABOVE.