Victim Location 46256
Total money lost $1,471
Type of a scam Utility
A person named Samantha Reid called my office number and left a message and return phone number with my receptionist. The message said that she was calling from Indianapolis Power & Light company ( IPL). Our electricity for the commercial building will be cut off in 45 minutes unless they receive a payment. I was traveling on a business trip and was not aware of the disconnect date being on the day she called. But, because I did not have a copy of the IPL bill, I told her that I can go online and make a payment. She told me not to do that because the online payment takes 48 hours and I did not have that much time as the technicians are on their way to cut off the electricity. I told her that I flew to Boston to attend this important seminar and if she can give me until tomorrow morning to pay. Also, I did not have any transportation. She told me that I should take an uber and go to CVS and purchase Green Dot Debit cards and call her before 6 pm an pay $1,500 including the deposit. In fear of having a big impact on my business if we lost electricity – I left the seminar, called Uber ($31) and went to CVS. I purchased three Green Dot Visa debit cards. I told her that I had never purchased these types of cards before and do not know what is involved in purchasing. She guided me that I will have to take out cash from ATM machine and purchase them as they will not take credit cards or debit cards. So, I used three different debit cards to withdraw money – since each debit card had daily limits, I was only able to withdraw $1,450. I called her and told her that I am only able to get $1,450. She said that I will have to get an excpetion of $50. Since it was 5:45pm and only 15 minutes before 6pm, I quickly rushed to CVS and purchased three cards. She was disappointed when I told her that it is Green Dot Visa. She said that I told you to get Green Dot Mastercard. I told her that this is all CVS had. She says that I will have to make special arrangments to accept Visa card. She finally processed all three cards (total of $1,450). She then told me that you have other commercial accounts, and I will be able to put a hold on them until tomorrow afternoon. You will need to pay $1,232.48 to remove disconnect status.
When I returned from my trip, I logged into IPL account – I did not see the payment of $1,450 posted, so I called the customer service. They told me that no one from IPL called as my bill was not due until the next two days. She said that many IPL customers are getting these type of scam calls.
I am currently in the process of filing a report with Indiana Attorney General, Federal Trade Commssion, ScamPulse.com and Green Dot debit card fraud department.