The Williamsburg Police Department is investigating after a resident reported giving more than $2,000 to scammers claiming to be from Dominion Virginia Power.
Maj. Greg Riley of the Williamsburg Police Department said the scam was reported to police at about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday. The victim said he received several phone calls from people claiming to be from Dominion Virginia Power. The callers said to pay a large sum of money or else the power would be shut off.
The victim was instructed to purchase prepaid spending cards to pay the bill. After buying the cards, he called the scammers back and gave them the numbers to the cards, which were then drained of funds electronically, Riley said. More than $2,000 was taken.
The scammers then called saying the man owed more money, prompting him to notify police.
“We’d like to remind the public that if they receive similar types of calls that they should not make any payment until they have verified that the call is from a legitimate source for a legitimate debt,” Riley said. “If the person had called Dominion to verify their bill status, they would have found out they did not owe any money and that would have stopped this right away.”
Riley noted no legitimate company will ask for payment via prepaid spending cards over the phone.
Dominion Virginia Power spokeswoman Bonita Billingsley Harris said the utility first started to receive reports of this type of scam in November 2012.
“If you receive a call claiming to be from Dominion or another utility company and you feel pressured for immediate payment or someone is asking for personal information, hang up the phone and call the number on your bill,” Harris said.
Dominion Virginia Power will not ask customers by telephone or in person to immediately pay for bills via cash or prepaid spending cards, though a request may be made for customers behind on their bills to go to an authorized Dominion Virginia Power payment center to pay the bill. Anyone with a question regarding billing should contact the company at 866-366-4357. It also will not request personal information via telephone or email.
The utility works with local law enforcement to bring to justice scammers who use this strategy. Anyone who thinks a scammer is trying to get money from them should record the phone number or email address the scammer is using and report it immediately.
A July news release notes a prompt report of a similar scam led to an arrest in another state of a person suspected of calling people across the country and saying their power would be shut off if they did not immediately pay by cash or prepaid spending card.
MoneyPak, which sells popular prepaid spending cards, has created an online tool for people who feel they are victims of scams to request a refund.