Murrieta Couple Warn About Fraudsters Posing As SCE Employees

MURRIETA, CA — An Murrieta husband and wife were recent targets of telephone scammers posing as Southern California Edison employees, and according to the utility the local couple's experience is pretty common.

The rate of phone scams reported to SCE each month is more than 30 percent higher this year (about 1,700) compared to the same period last year (about 1,300). In 2021, SCE customers have reported being scammed out of more than $264,000, with about 34 percent (about $88,000) lost using mobile payment apps like Zelle, MoneyPak and others that let users send cash immediately.

“Anytime someone says, ‘You need to pay right now,’ that’s a tipoff,” said Darryl Turner of Murrieta. He and his wife Lynette said they get “several various scam calls each week."

"That happens when you get up in years," Darryl said. The Turners are both over 70.

A few weeks after actual SCE technicians upgraded their meter, a scammer called the Turners claiming to be from SCE. The couple owed $495 for a new meter or their service would be interrupted, the imposter said.

"The caller wanted us to pay immediately by Zelle,” Darryl explained. Realizing it was a scam, the Turners declined and reported the call to SCE.

It's unknown how many of these scam calls go unreported, and not everyone escapes the con.

Luz DeLeon, a fourth-grade teacher from Huntington Park, was leading her class via Zoom due to COVID-19 restrictions when she got a call from impostors posing as SCE. There was a problem with her meter, they said, and her power would be shut off in 30 minutes — unless she paid a deposit immediately using Zelle.

“I was panicking,” DeLeon explained. “I said, ‘You can’t cut me off! What do I need to do?’”

Weeks earlier, her internet connection had failed while she was giving an exam and she did not want another disruption.

DeLeon was transferred to a Spanish-speaking woman who assured her she would get the money refunded. But a truck was already on its way, the scammer said, so DeLeon had to send the money right then, directly to a supposed “SCE manager.” The imposter instructed DeLeon step-by-step on how to use Zelle to send the $495. She did it.

DeLeon's sister later told her, “I think you’ve been scammed.”

The teacher contacted SCE and confirmed the call was a farce.

These payment services and apps “should only be used to send money to someone you know and trust,” said Meghan Fintland, director of Influencer Relations at Early Warning Services, the network operator for Zelle. “They are the same as putting cash in an envelope and dropping it in a mailbox.”

COVID-19 safety guidelines continue to keep many Southern Californians home during daytime hours, creating more opportunities for phone scammers. Refunds received during tax season, and this year’s stimulus checks from the American Rescue Plan, may also be driving increased phone scam activity. The FBI has a web portal of more than two dozen common cons the agency now encounters.

SCE customers targeted by a utility bill scam should confirm their payment status or report the scam attempt by calling SCE at 1-800-655-4555; they can also email SCE at csinfogov@sce.com or complete SCE’s online fraud form.

The utility reminds its ratepayers that SCE will never demand immediate payment with the threat of disconnection; will never accept prepaid cash cards; and will never ask for credit card or account information over the phone. See more tips below:

— Ron Gales, Energized by Edison writer, contributed to this report.