JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – "They got me!" That's what a U.S. Navy veteran and Jacksonville business owner said when he called the I-TEAM.
Aaron Enos, the owner of Sensible Recycling, called to warn that he was taken by scammers who claimed to be with JEA, and he was worried he wasn't alone.
He was right. According to JEA, dozens of people were targeted and cheated out of more than $3,500 in the phone scam that made its rounds on Monday.
These scammers claim you are past due on your bill and then threaten to turn off your power if you don't pay up. And, while the caller ID may appear to be coming from JEA's main number, it's not, and it's called ghosting.
"They were good, they were good," said Enos.
In the middle of his extremely busy Monday, Enos said he got a call from that fake JEA number, and the scammers claimed a technician was headed out to cut his power off. They told Enos he missed a payment, which didn't seem far-fetched because Enos' bank had recently issued him a new credit card and he had been set up on auto-pay.
"Obviously I had payments attached to that card, so going back to check all the automatic payments -- it’s possible I could have missed paying JEA," explained Enos.
The phony JEA callers insisted Enos handle his missed payment right away, but said Enos couldn't pay with a credit card because of processing time. Instead, they urged him to pay with a prepaid credit card if he wanted to keep his power on.
"They hit all the pressure points, and I believed it," Enos admitted. "$295 gone."
Right after Enos gave the scammers $295 on a prepaid card, he realized in his rush to take care of his so-called JEA debt, he missed the "prepaid" red flag.
"Where you know you're being scammed is when they tell you to get a prepaid card, and you're going to get a PIN," said JEA Spokeswoman Gerri Boyce. "JEA would never ask you to do that. In fact, we give you three or four notices if your account is out."
But again, Enos wasn't the only one. Boyce said at least 35 other customers called JEA Monday to report the same scam. Unfortunately, one customer paid the scammers $1,500.
Boyce warned the thieves are sophisticated, and they mimic everything JEA does right down to the music when you're put on hold.
"They prey on people who don't know and use fear as their weapon," she said.
Boyce said your first line of defense against these scammers is to know the history of your JEA account, which includes your typical payments and due dates.
Also, you need to know what JEA will and will NOT do:
- JEA WILL give customers three to four notifications on a bill that is past due.
- JEA WON'T call or threaten to shut the power off with a technician on the way.
Boyce said JEA is also trying to protect customers by working with local stores that sell prepaid credit cards, instructing cashiers to tell people buying them of this specific scam.
And, the utility is in the midst of a social media campaign as a way to inform customers of what thieves are doing, too.
Enos said during his scam call, he spoke with four different people, and all of them had a Latin accent.
"Unfortunately I learned the hard way," said Enos. "If someone is threatening you with an imminent issue, stop, call the company and talk to them directly.
It's not just JEA customers being targeted. Boyce said this scam is hitting utilities across the country including animal hospitals, dry cleaners, restaurants, and people who don't speak English as their first language.