Empire Electric received reports on July 30, 2014 describing two separate incidences of phone-related scams in Cortez and Mancos. The con man pressured the business owners to pay their electric bill within two hours or crews would disconnect their power.
In one case, the scammers left an 866 phone number and when the owner returned the call, he was told that they were a third party located in Denver that represented Empire Electric. The owner was given directions that the payment should be sent as a Money Pak and not as a credit card payment, a cashier’s check, or a personal check.
The attempted scam took place after Empire Electric’s offices were closed. He realized that he was not behind on his account and shouldn’t be up for disconnection of service. He called the police department.
In February, scammers targeted Cortez businesses and residents with threatening phone calls that their power would be cut off unless they quickly settle a supposedly overdue bill.
Empire Electric Empire urges members to report suspicious collection calls to the billing office at 970-565-4444 or 800-709-3726.
