DWP warns customers about cash card scam artists
By Edwin Folven, 10/04/2012
The Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) are warning the public about a scam where suspects call DWP customers demanding that they pay their bill with a pre-paid cash card.
The suspects allegedly call residents advising them that their water and power bill has not been paid. They then threaten to immediately turn off the customers’ water and electricity unless payment is made. Victims are told to go to a convenience store and purchase a pre-paid cash card, after which they are instructed to call a telephone number and read the personal identification number from the cash card.
“The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power would never call a customer and tell them to pay their bill in this manner,” said Patrick K. Findley, director of security services and emergency management for DWP. Anyone with information, or who may have been a victim of the scam, is asked to call (877)LAPD247.
