Telephone Scams See Surge

Anyone receiving a suspicious telephone call and suspects similar fraud, should notify PGE at 1-800-542-8818 and the police.

(TIGARD OR) - Tigard Police are cautioning both businesses and residents regarding a telephone scam which appears to be widespread in the metro area.

Tigard Police have taken calls from both business owners and residential customers of PGE.

Almost verbatim, the caller advises the potential victim that a new "smart meter" needs to be installed immediately or power will be shut-off. The caller further advises that in efforts to avoid loss of electrical power, a pre-paid Green Dot VISA would need to be purchased and a code from the card provided. Other victims also reported the caller told them their account was past-due and needed to be paid immediately using a pre-paid credit card.

After a small business owner in Tigard grew suspicious upon following through with the request, police were contacted. Tigard Police determined the fraudulent call appeared to have originated from the Dominican Republic.

According to the PGE website-"it is important to know that PGE employees will never ask you to buy a pre-paid credit card to pay your bill. Live PGE employees do not accept payment over the phone. PGE only accepts telephone payments using our automated telephone payment system."

Anyone receiving a suspicious telephone call and suspects similar fraud, should notify PGE at 1-800-542-8818 and the police.

Source: News release from Tigard Police