Delmarva Power reminds customers to stay vigilant to prevent scams

Delmarva Power reminds customers to be on the lookout for imposters using energy-related scams to steal money and personal information.

Scams occur throughout the year, but Delmarva Power generally sees an increase in reports of attempted scams during the holiday season. Scammers take advantage of their victims’ stress and higher-than-usual activity levels that come at this time of year to trick customers into providing their personal or financial information and making false payments under the pretense of keeping their service active. Scammers are also attempting to take advantage of those still facing economic challenges while recovering from the impacts of the pandemic by trying to pressure families and businesses that may be struggling with past-due balances.

“Customer safety and well-being are high priorities, and we want to ensure our communities are aware of and prepared for scammers’ attempts to defraud or steal from them,” said Morlon Bell-Izzard, senior vice president and chief customer officer for Pepco Holdings, which includes Delmarva Power. “We are grateful to join forces with our utility partners to shine a light on this important issue to ensure our customers can protect themselves and take a stand against fraudulent activity.”

Common schemes involve scammers’ use of technology to replicate a company’s phone number through caller ID, also known as “spoofing,” and threatening to turn off a customer’s service unless they make a direct payment with a prepaid cash card. Some scams involve imposters posing as Delmarva Power employees to gain entry into a customer’s home to steal belongings, and in others, scammers send emails to businesses requesting that they send Delmarva Power payments to fake pay sites.

Following are some tips to help identify scams and their perpetrators.

Delmarva Power workers will never come to a customer’s home or business to ask for immediate payment with a prepaid cash card or cryptocurrency, or ask for their Delmarva Power account number or other personal information such as a driver’s license number. If a person comes to a home or business regarding disconnection of service, the customer should contact the company directly to discuss the status of the account.

Delmarva Power representatives will never call a customer to ask for their account number or for personal information, such as their Social Security number or bank information. They will not ask customers to make a direct payment with a prepaid cash card.

To identify an actual Delmarva Power worker, remember all Delmarva Power field employees wear a uniform with the Delmarva Power logo, including shirt and safety vest. Delmarva Power employees visibly display a company ID badge with the Delmarva Power logo and employee’s name.

Commercial customers are also advised to protect themselves from potential scam attempts. These offenders impersonate Delmarva Power and other trusted organizations through email or other forms of communication to deceive businesses into providing financial information or making an urgent payment.

To help protect their business from scams, employees at local businesses should carefully review emails originating from outside the organization’s network. They should check the name of the sender and business, and make sure it matches the name and business in the email address, and look for typos or slight image alterations within the email.

If a customer ever questions the legitimacy of a call or visit to their home regarding disconnection of service, they should contact Delmarva Power at 800-375-7117. Any customer who believes they have been a target of a scam is urged to contact their local police and call Delmarva Power immediately to report the situation.

For more tips and information about preventing scams, go to delmarva.com.