Wednesday, July 14, 2021 - Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative is warning its customers of a possible ongoing scam.
A CHEC member received a call from someone claiming to be a Cookson Hills lineman. The caller told the customer their electric bill was past due and that the meter would be pulled and service disconnected if they did not pay the past due amount of $500. The caller instructed the member to go to a Dollar General store and purchase a $500 gift card as the method of payment.
That customer instead went to Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative's Stigler office to inquire about their account status and thus avoided being scammed out of $500.
These scam attempts are occurring more frequently and scammers are finding more creative and convincing ways to steal money. During this particular scam attempt, the caller number showed up on the member’s phone as CHEC's actual “800” number, and the caller mentioned names of employees working at CHEC. These fraudulent details often convince the victim to follow through with a transaction only to find out later the whole thing was a scam. Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative strongly encourages customers to call its offices at (800) 328-2368 if they ever receive a similar demand for payment on their account.
Laura Brown, KXMX Staff Writer
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