The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department is issuing a warning to the community that it is seeing a number of reports regarding a phone scam where the caller poses as a Southern California Edison employee.
The scammer threatens to disconnect electricity service unless a payment is made immediately using a pre-paid cash card. If the call goes to voicemail, the caller will even go as far as to leave a message with an actual Southern California Edison voicemail, making it appear that the call is valid.
Anyone who receives a call of this nature should hang up and call Southern California Edison directly to verify their account status and call law enforcement.
Please note that the SCE does not accept pre-paid cash cards for bill payments. Also, people should never give personal or financial information to anyone that they are not completely sure is legitimate and always contact the requesting agency directly to verify.
To report scams, call the Federal Trade Commission at 877.FTC.HELP or click here.
— Kelly Hoover is a public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.