Lincoln Electric System sees uptick in scams during holiday season
By SHEL RICKERT – Lincoln Journal Star, Neb. (TNS)
Lincoln Electric System has seen a recent uptick in scams related to utility payments, prompting a warning to customers during the holiday season.
LES sent a news release earlier this month asking customers to stay alert to phone calls from people posing as LES employees who threaten to disconnect power without payment.
“LES never contacts you via phone to disconnect services or ask for immediate payment,” said Lisa Hale, the vice president of customer services for LES. “We use disconnect notices and reminders on bills for delinquent accounts, door hangers for service terminations and email or text alerts for those who opt in.”
The release said that customers reported that when they call the number provided by scammers, a recording says they have reached LES.
Tuan Mai, 47, is one Lincoln resident who lost about $1,500 to scammers posing as LES representatives.
“I’m working on the payroll right now, so I know that this paycheck I have to buy, for Christmas here, for everything, but now I have to keep this money to pay for that bill,” Mai said of the false utility bill he initially thought he was paying.
Mai said he received a call from an unknown woman claiming to be from LES on Dec. 3. The woman said Mai, an entrepreneur, had an overdue payment for a building he sold in October that needed to be paid or else the power would be shut off.
The woman then transferred Mai, he said, to LES using its official phone number. He dialed the corresponding number to speak to a customer service representative and a man answered.
Mai said the man told him that LES had an account with a south Lincoln Walmart, where Mai would have to pay using a code the man gave to him. After paying the money, Mai said he was then transferred to a third person, another man, who told him that he would have to pay even more.
“I heard that, and I knew that this is not right, this is a scam,” Mai said.
Mai later learned that he had actually paid for about $1,500 in Walmart gift cards to an unknown person.
Lincoln Police Department spokesperson Erika Thomas said that while there had been a rise in scams involving people who had used LES’ official phone number years ago, they have since died down.
Thomas said only one other scam involving LES has been reported to LPD recently. On the same day of Mai’s experience, a Lincoln restaurant lost about $9,000 to a person who posed as an LES representative.
LES listed awareness tips in the release, including the fact that no utility will ask for gift cards or prepaid cards, that LES will never meet with customers to accept payment and that LES will only ever ask for account information to confirm identity.
The release added that customers should avoid suspicious emails that ask for urgent payment or personal information and never give financial or personal information to someone who calls or emails.
Questions about account status or access can be answered by visiting the LES website, emailing customerservice@LES.com or by calling 402-475-4211.
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