City Councilmember Bob Kellar recently told KHTS that he had been targeted by scammers threatening to turn off power at his businesses unless he paid more money.

Kathy Kellar, Councilmember Kellar’s wife, told KHTS that one of his three real estate offices — the Friendly Valley location — received a call last week with those on the other end saying that they were officials with SoCal Edison.

“They told Bob that, ‘You haven’t paid your bill and if you don’t, we’re shutting off your power,’” Kathy Kellar reported to KHTS.

Kathy Kellar then wrote down the number and told her husband to call them back and tell them that he had his credit card statements showing that he had, in fact, paid the bill on time.

“Doesn’t matter. We’re still shutting it off,” those on the other end of the line told Councilmember Kellar.

The Kellars then printed out their bank statements and took them directly to the SoCal Edison regional office.

“(A representative) told Bob that they knew what this was, and that it was a scam,” said Kathy Kellar.

SoCal Edison officials have said that this is nothing new, and while they try to report any complaints or instances of fraud that they are made aware of to law enforcement, they have also released a set of tips to help their customers proactively prevent themselves from being scammed.

SoCal Edison has stated that two of the most surefire ways that a customer can determine if it’s a fraud or not is based on whether or not the person on the phone or at your door asks for a pre-paid cash card or refuses to show you proper identification.

“If you get a phone call demanding money using a pre-paid cash card, it’s a scam. Hang up and call the police,” reads an informational page on SoCal’s website. “(Also,) our employees always have their SCE Photo ID badge and wear a company uniform. Our employee vehicles have permanent SCE logos on them.”

Other ways that residents can discern who is an actual SoCal Edison employee or not include listening for or observing the following clues:

• SCE will never call to demand immediate payment with the threat of service disconnection
• SCE does not have a disconnection department
• An SCE employee will never ask for cash in person
• SCE never conducts credit transactions on weekends or holidays

If a customer does discern that an incident is fraudulent, whether it is by phone call, email or personal visit, SoCal Edison has advised them to:

• Never reveal personal information to anyone, including your SCE account information, credit card, ATM or calling card number (or PIN number)
• Never use the call-back number provided by an unknown caller to verify billing information
• Ask for the caller’s name, department and business phone number
• End the call or interaction and report the incident to your local law enforcement. Call SCE at the telephone numbers on your utility bill

For more information about scammers and how customers can prevent themselves from becoming a victim, visit SoCal Edison’s Scam Alert webpage here.

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