Bear Valley Electric Service (BVES) is alerting customers to a current utility scam that seeks to swindle them out of their money by threatening to shut off their power if immediate payment is not received. The imposters are calling customers posing as representatives of the power company and are using tactics to pressure customers into calling a phone number and surrendering credit card information. “Unfortunately these types of utility scams have been growing nationally and have already affected many areas of Southern California,” BVES Director Paul Marconi said. “It is important for our customers to know it is against BVES’ policy to call customers and demand payment by threatening of shutting off their power.” If a BVES customer feels they are being targeted by a scammer via phone, they should end the call immediately and call BVES Customer Service at (909) 866-4678 to verify their account status. Customers are also encouraged to contact the local San Bernardino County Sheriff’s office at (909) 866-0100 to report the incident. If customers believe that they may have been a victim of this scam, they can report it online to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force at StopFraud.gov.
