From The Arcadia Police Department
In March of 2013, APD posted a warning about a recurring phone scam targeting customers of Southern California Edison (SCE). Typically, a scammer calls and demands immediate payment for an alleged "past due" SCE account and says the power will be shut-off unless the victim sends immediate payment.
The calls have targeted both residential and business customers, usually demanding payment of between $800-$1000. Over this past weekend, APD took two similar reports at local businesses in Arcadia. Neither business fell to the scam and no bogus payments were made.
Please see the SCE warning bulletin on this type of scam HERE. The bulletin is available in several different languages, including Chinese (公共事業帳單詐騙繼續瞄準Southern California Edison客戶).
From SCE: “We ask our customers to be alert to these calls that demand immediate payment and threaten service disconnection,” said Marlyn Denter, SCE consumer affairs manager. “Customers suspecting a fraudulent call should ask for the caller’s name, department and business phone number. If the caller refuses to provide this information, customers should terminate the call and report the incident immediately to local police or SCE at 800-655-4555.”