By: Alfred Acenas
EBC Hawaii-Pacific Bureau
HONOLULU (Eagle News) – Customers of Hawaiian Electric are being warned about phony bill collectors threatening to disconnect their service unless the pay up with prepaid credit cars.
“Using scare tactics and trickery, scammers are pretending to be Hawaiian Electric and threatening to disconnect customers’ electric service unless ‘overdue’ bills are cleared with prepaid debit cards,” Hawaiian Electric (HECO) said in a statement. “Don’t be scammed!”
The utility says recently a business paid thousands of dollars to a scammer using MoneyPak cards.
In another instance, the scammer pretended to be Hawaiian Electric’s president and chief executive officer as he attempted to get a customer to pay.
In one call, a customer was told to purchase MoneyPak cards at a local convenience store.
To avoid arousing suspicion, the scammer warned the customer not to tell the cashier that the card was being purchased to pay a utility bill. Instead, the customer was told to say the card was being purchased for personal reasons.
As part of the scheme, the scammer warned the customer that he would have to pay a $50 fee if he told the clerk it would be used to pay a utility bill, much more than the usual $5.95 fee.
Store clerks are trained to intervene if a customer is purchasing cards to pay a utility bill.
Hawaiian Electric does not accept the following types of payment — Cash App, Bitcoin, gift cards and prepaid debit cards.
Payment arrangements can be requested
HECO reminds customers that the moratorium on disconnections for nonpayment has been extended until May 31, 2021. And customers should note that while the moratorium ends May 31, it will not trigger immediate disconnections. People having difficulty paying their bill are urged to request a payment arrangement to ensure uninterrupted service.
While the volume of scam reports has not spiked, HECO wants to raise awareness of recent cases of customers tricked into paying large sums of money.
Calls or other communications threatening immediate disconnection are scams and can be reported to Hawaiian Electric via an online form.
(Eagle News Service)