ROSS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A Ross Township couple is warning others after they were nearly scammed.
David Drayer and his wife Jean said they got a call from someone claiming to be from Duquesne Light. The caller told them their energy supplier NRG was being sold to Stark Energy and they needed to switch to the new supplier within two hours or pay a hefty $900 fine.
“My wife was very upset thinking, ‘We need to do this. We can’t be without power.’ I’m saying, ‘It feels like a scam,’” David Drayer said. “I’m very angry. I don’t want to do this.”
When the Drayer refused, he said the person on the other end of the line threatened to shut off their power.
“They’re going to cut off our power? For an older, retired couple, that’s scary,” he said. “It’s cold. We’re older. It was like we had a choice of paying $900 or freezing to death.”
Better Business Bureau Public Relations Director Caitlin Driscoll said the call had all the signs of a utility imposter scam.
“All red flags,” she said. “Certainly, no legitimate utility company is ever going to threaten you. They’re not going to demand immediate payment.”
Alyssa Battaglia, DLC’s external communications associate said, “A reputable supplier will never portray themselves as your utility provider; ask to see your bill; threaten that you will lose service if you don’t choose a supplier; or misrepresent the potential savings.”
An NRG spokesperson confirmed the company is not being sold.
“This was not anyone involved with our company and was, in fact, a scam perpetrated by a fraudster,” said Dan McCunney with NRG.
Duquesne Light told us it’s never heard of Stark Energy. But there is a Spark Energy that services Duquesne Light’s area.
Spark Energy couldn’t find the couple in their records and sent us this statement:
“We take these allegations very seriously. The high-pressure tactics under threat of cancellation fees described by the couple are absolutely not part of Spark Energy’s approved sales practices or scripts. Our training materials & code of conduct require that sales representatives provide clear and accurate information about our services and pricing. Consumers are always free to choose their energy supplier without any pressure.
“The scenario you describe strongly suggests a possible imposter scam, and it’s highly likely the caller does not represent Spark Energy. A search of our records did not return any contacts with the number provided. Unfortunately, these types of scams do occur, and energy companies are sometimes falsely implicated. We encourage anyone who receives a suspicious call like the one described to contact their supplier directly to verify the information.”
Drayer ended up calling Duquesne Light directly, which said their phone number appeared to have been spoofed.
“The phone number they were using was a Duquesne Light number, but we were not talking to Duquesne Light,” Drayer said. “I stayed here all evening because if they showed up, I was going to try to stop them from cutting off our power. But they never came. Nothing happened. It was all a scam.”
Both Duquesne Light and the BBB said Drayer did the right thing by hanging up and calling the utility company directly.
Duquesne Light offers tips on what you can do to avoid being targeted by a scam. Click here to read them.
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