I think we’re getting scammed

Lounge
#1

We received a phone call that the caller ID says is our water company.
The caller ID shows the same name and phone number as our water company.

I didn’t answer the phone but let the call go to our answering machine.

There was a robotic voice telling us that we over paid on our water bill by a couple of months and we should take a photo of our water meter and email it to an email address found on the companies web site.

The thing is they also gave out a legitimate telephone number.

They said that failure to email the photo will result in our water to be shut off in 3 days.

The robo message kept repeating itself like 5 times on the machine.

I am not certain it’s a scam because the telephone number they gave out was the same number as our water company.

We are going to call our water company on Monday when they open.

Sounds fishy though.

What do you guys think?

6 Likes
#2

That’s what I would do.

7 Likes
#3

Sounds like you are doing the proper thing by calling your water company to verify.

Why would they shut off your water if you OVER PAID?

11 Likes
#4

Yeah the whole thing stinks but I’m still confused because they said to email the photo of the meter reading to the companies web site.

And they told us to call the companies phone number, an actual legitimate number if we are having difficulty finding our water meter.

I don’t know how they could scam us?

2 Likes
#5

Yeah, I was wondering exactly what the benefit of the scam would be to them too.

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#6

But then again I read somewhere that utility companies don’t call customers when there is an issue.

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#7

Sometimes in the uk scammers phone your landline but stay on the line after you hang up. When you dial a number they fake add a ringing sound and pretend to be the people you have just rung

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#8

Doesn’t hurt to be cautious. If you call them directly, by a number that you know is theirs, you can be sure that nothing fishy is going on and hopefully get it straightened out.

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#9

Yeah so what you are saying @anon94176359 is if I call that legitimate number, a scammer will answer?

I heard of spoofing

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#10

It might be. Certainly in the uk they do that

2 Likes
#11

It got me a bit paranoid

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#12

But they asked you to email a photo…not call the number?

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#13

Yeah I think you are right.
No legitimate utility company would threaten to shut off our water supply in 3 days because we overpaid.
It doesn’t make sense.

#14

I don’t think that’s whats going on here because they asked you to email them, not call the number, if I’m understanding you correctly.

#15

Unless they just anticipated that you would call.

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#16

No but they said if you have questions or trouble finding the meter to give them a call. @Bowens

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#17

I may contact the police if I find out it’s a scam.

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#18

I’m not sure how your caller ID works but I know of some service providers that let you put whatever name you want. It could be as simple as somebody typing the same name but then again I think you said it was the same number? ??

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#19

Yeah it’s called spoofing.
Actual numbers but still part of the scam

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#20

For example if I sign up for a new prepaid phone online and it asks me for my name I could easily just type my name as " water company" theb I believe it would show up as that when I call… i may be wrong tho

1 Like