News release from Umatilla Electric:
We heard that the scammers are back once again! And the area that has been affected lately is Boardman and Irrigon.
This is what we know:
- They have mostly targeted the Hispanic Community.
- The scammers are calling our members to collect money for meters that according to them are not working properly. They tell the customers that if they don’t replace the meter they will see an increase in their bill. Their fee to replace the meter is in the $200s.
- They are asking people to pay with a credit card, Green Dot card, or money order.
- The phone calls are mostly happening over the weekend.
- A few people have said that their caller id shows the word “energy” when they got the call.
- The scammers have gotten very persuasive, and if the customer begins to question or get a bit argumentative with the scammer, the scammer has cursed at him/her.
We would like for our members to know:
- Our work hours are from Monday-Thursday from 7:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m. We will not be calling to collect money during the weekend.
- If the member has a past due amount, the member may have the option to make payment arrangements.
- Prior to a disconnection, our members receive a Final Disconnection Notice with a specific Disconnection Date to allow time for the member to make a payment.
- We don’t force people to pay with a specific payment method, such as a prepaid credit card.
- The meters that UEC utilizes are reliable. If the meter has not been tampered with and in the off chance that it has a software malfunction, UEC will replace the meter at no cost to the customer.
- When we communicate with our members we do it in the most professional manner.
- We encourage our members to call us if they ever get an unsolicited or suspicious call from someone demanding a payment. We want them to call UEC (567-6414) or HES (289-2000) to get the status on their account and to verify that we are trying to reach them.
