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Police are warning residents about a phone scam involving Florida Power and Light. Two small businesses were the target, with one taking the bait.
“Panicked. It was the middle of lunchtime. They gave us 45 minutes,” said Christina Petrides, owner of Apollo Diner.
The call came in on Tuesday to the diner on Hibiscus Boulevard.
On the other line, a man claiming to be with FPL, saying the small business owed a bill of nearly $2,000. The man said if they didn’t pay within that time, their electricity would be shut off.
“When you are in the middle of lunchtime, you’re just going to go and get it done. Can’t have power shutoff when you’re a full restaurant,” Petrides said.
Police said the scam artists call right in the middle of the lunch rush for a reason.
“You’re running business. You’re looking at the clock and seeing the door open, people coming in. The last thing you want at that time is for your power to go off,” said Sgt. Sheridan Shelley of the Melbourne Police Department.
Petrides was instructed to go to Walmart, buy a Green Dot prepaid card with the $1983 on it and then call the number back for payment.
But almost right way she had her doubts.
“There was something that didn’t seem right,” Petrides said. “I told him on the phone he even sounded fraudulent,” she recalls.
On the way to the store, she called FPL and found the account wasn’t past due. Also the amount she would owe wasn’t the same as the demanded payment.
However, Petrides had already given her bank account and debit card number over the phone.
Fortunately the bank was able to shut down the transactions.
Now she’s forced to close her account and start over.
The other local business did go through the process and is now out nearly $1,500.
FPL said they never call and ask for this type of information over the phone or take prepaid credit cards as payment.
Melbourne police said other victims could be out there. They ask for you to call them if you think you are one at (321) 409-2252.
Published at Wed, 12 Feb 2014 21:17:00 +0000
