Spring is in the Air … and so are Scams
I love spring – warmer temps and longer days means dining outside for dinner, which I love. I’m an alfresco kind of girl and will take just about any opportunity to eat outside. We have a beautiful deck with a great view and we have overhead lights, which add a lot.
One thing that has increased, along with the longer days and warmer evenings, are the number of phone scams we’ve been getting. Most of us have received calls that our Social Security has been suspended because of “suspicious activity” or received an email (many times from a bank that we don’t even do business with) stating that our account “may have been accessed from an unauthorized computer” or some other nonsense. Here at CV Weekly we were called by the “LA DWP.” Apparently we hadn’t paid our bill and someone was coming out to turn us off unless we immediately contacted LA DWP billing and finance.
Red flag No. 1: We are not DWP customers; our service is with Glendale Water & Power. But our office manager Rachelle was pretty angry at receiving (another) bogus call and called the phone number for “DWP billing and finance.” One scary side note is that initially the phone number sounded like it went through to DWP. It didn’t take long, though, for her to erupt telling the scammer that we don’t have service with DWP and to leave us alone before slamming down the phone.
It’s no wonder Rachelle was angry; on Tuesday she dealt with another scammer, this one telling her he was with Glendale Water & Power and that we were going to have our power shut off in 30 minutes or less due to non-payment. What was of concern was that this scammer actually knew our business name and address. She called “GWP” but surprise! No one picked up the phone. She then called the real GWP to report the incident. There must be a lot of scams involving GWP because while she was on hold a recorded message reminded callers that GWP would never come out and ask customers for money or ask for payment via gift certificates. The recording also reminded callers that due to the pandemic no customers are being shut off, services canceled or late fees assessed. When she spoke to a true GWP representative, she was told that GWP is asking folks to report the scam incident to the Federal Trade Commission reportfraud.ftc.gov.
And just so you know – we pay our bills on time.
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Like I said above, I do enjoy eating outside and I’ll be doing that tonight, Thursday, at Alissa’s Oceanview Bar & Grill at Ocean View and Florencita. The CV Chamber of Commerce is having a fundraiser for its scholarship fund and anyone who purchases food, whether to enjoy outside on the patio (me), inside or take home, will have a portion of their payment donated by Alissa’s to the scholarship fund. I encourage you to add Alissa’s to your menu today by calling (818) 248-2722 or check out the website at www.dineov.com. And if you stop by after 5:30 p.m. wave to me; I’ll be at one of the outside tables.