New Scam in Maine Claims You’re Getting a Refund on Utility Bills

There's a special place in you-know-where, for phone scammers.

I had a friend who's elderly mom got sucked in by a phone scammer about ten years ago. And it wasn't chump change. Her mom got take for about $15,000. Honestly, I don't remember the con itself, just that over the course of a couple weeks, this person convinced her to transfer thousands in gift cards over to them.

Sadly, this is not remotely an uncommon experience, especially in the elderly community. Which is why I always say there's a special place down in the netherworld for crooks that prey on the elderly. Imagine if a crook put that much effort into a real job? And the latest scam going around Maine hits us all right where we hurt the most... Our utility bills...

Crooks are posing as people from utility companies, offering the best thing ever.

We all are constantly wondering when our bills will stabilize. Our monthly bills seem to climb endlessly, with no real relief in sight that they might plateau a bit. So if someone from say CMP, or Verizon called you and told you that for several months, you'd been overcharged and you're due for a refund, according to News Center Maine.

Who wouldn't want that? Here's the thing... Utility companies, and in this case, the Maine Public Utilities Commission, will never call you to inform you of a refund, and ask for your account information to process said refund. Not to mention, the MPUC would never call people for that anyway. It's not like they handle that sort of business in the first place.

These scams are designed almost specifically to target the elderly.

As sad as it is, crooks generally go after the elderly in these scams. Occasionally, some folks are easily confused, or easily distracted, and talked into giving their personal banking information. And that's the key here... None of these folks will ever ask for your personal account info. If anyone ever asks, don't give it to them.

In fact, you should call the actual utility company directly and try to get more information. They'll tell you immediately if it was an attempted scam. But never offer bank info, or personal info. Don't even say your birthday. Just hang up and call the company right away and report it. Protecting yourself and what's yours is important.