A common scam has resurfaced in Cape Coral. It targets residents with urgent phone calls, threatening to shut off their electricity unless an immediate payment is made.
Connie Valentine, a Cape Coral resident, received a call she initially thought was from her electric company, Lee County Electric Cooperative. The caller said she had not paid her bill in three months and demanded payment within 30 minutes, or her power would be cut off.
“I'm thinking, '30 minutes. What?'” Valentine recalled, alarmed by the urgency of the message.
However, Valentine wasn't easily fooled. After reviewing her bank statements, she saw that all of her payments were up to date. “She got very irate with us before she hung up,” Valentine said, recalling the aggressive tone of the caller.
Noticing something was off, Valentine and her husband decided to call LCEC directly using the phone number on their electric bill. They quickly confirmed that their balance was $0 and their payments were current.
“So that's when we knew it was a scam,” Valentine said. “We decided that we better tell people, to warn them if it happens to them because it seemed so legitimate.”
The scammer had used a technique called “spoofing,” where they disguised their phone number to appear as though it was coming from the actual electric company. Valentine suspects that elderly people, who may be less familiar with such tactics, are being specifically targeted.
After the incident, Valentine and her husband decided to call the number back to investigate further. To their shock, the real LCEC answered, confirming it was a fraudulent call.
Now, Valentine is urging others to be cautious. “Just be careful because you never know who's on the other end of that line,” she said.
LCEC has made it clear that it will never call a customer or visit their home to demand immediate payment. If you are ever unsure, it recommends that you call the phone number listed on your electric bill.
“LCEC will never call a customer or come to their door demanding immediate payment or asking for personal financial information. LCEC will only ask for payment over the phone if the customer initiates the call. When in doubt, it is always good practice to call the phone number on the electric bill or on lcec.net to verify any requests.”