Staff Report
SMUD officials are urging customers to be on the lookout for scammers claiming to represent SMUD and threatening disconnection if immediate payments are not made.
A scam currently being used works like this:
- Scammers contact a customer — sometimes from a phone number that appears to be SMUD’s customer service number — and threaten disconnection if a payment is not made within 20-40 minutes via a pre-paid debit card, often at a pay station such as CVS or Safeway stores (not authorized SMUD pay stations). Some scammers have even asked for a cash payment to be made in person at a public location.
- The scammer demands that the customer call back a non-SMUD number with payment details.
- When the customer calls the number, it is answered with a recording of SMUD’s phone-based customer service menu.
- When the customer chooses a menu option, the call will go to voicemail or will be answered by a scammer posing as a SMUD employee.
SMUD representatives will never call a customer and direct them to a non-SMUD payment facility or require a specific method of payment such as cash, wire payment or money card.
A list of authorized SMUD pay stations with a map of nearby locations can be viewed by visiting smud.org/Pay.
If customers receive a suspicious call, SMUD asks them to ask for a name and number, then hang up and call SMUD at one of the following published numbers:
- Residential customers: 1-888-742-SMUD (7683)
- Business customers: 1-877-622-SMUD (7683)
Customers can also email SMUD at scamreporting@smud.org with the same information.
To learn more about how to protect yourself from fraud, visit smud.org/Scam.