YORK COUNTY, S.C. — More utility company leaders are saying they’re starting to see a spike in scams.
Leaders in our area are saying scammers are getting more creative in how they target unsuspecting customers.
Those with Duke Energy say they use information from scam victims to build up defenses for future scammers.
“Through the pandemic, we’ve seen scam reports to increase significantly with 15,000 scams just this year,” Meghan Miles with Duke Energy said.
Miles says scam attempts in South Carolina have already surpassed what they were this time last year.
Monica Martinez is with Utilities United Against Scams, a national coalition of utility leaders who’ve joined forces to combat scams. She says scammers are using the pandemic to scare customers into action.
“The types of scams that we see the most often are we are a scammer will call the customer and say you owe money,” Martinez said. “And you must pay by a gift card or a money card in order to prevent shut off.”
In the video above, CN2’s Rachel Richardson spoke with Duke Energy about how you can avoid being a victim.
For more information on how you can protect yourself from utility scams, you can head to cn2.com for more resources from Utilities United Against Scams and Duke Energy.
