Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) has been alerted to a fraud scam in which customers are asked to provide payment information in order to avoid having their electric service disconnected. SMECO warns customer-members not to provide personal financial or electric account information to unauthorized callers. Customers should not provide Green Dot or Moneygram payments to callers claiming to be from SMECO. According to Tom Dennison, managing director of government and public affairs, customers have recently contacted SMECO to notify the co-op that they have received fraudulent calls from people threatening to disconnect their electric service. He said, “It seems like every few months we get a wave of customers who say they’ve received scam phone calls. If customers receive a phone call from someone threatening to disconnect their power, they may hang up and call SMECO directly at 1-888-440-3311. Our contact center is open 24 hours a day, every day.”
SMECO bills are issued monthly. Overdue amounts are identified on a customer’s bill. If payments are late, SMECO sends a pink termination notice. According to Dennison, “Customers can also check their account balance by calling SMECO’s automated system at 1-866-528-7757. Customer-members should never provide personal financial or electric account information to unauthorized callers.”
Customers should only give payment information over the phone if they initiate the call. Callers who give short deadlines and threaten to cut off service within an hour or two are probably running a scam. SMECO has a set routine for collecting payments from customers.
• SMECO will mail a termination notice if a bill is past due.
• SMECO only calls customers who owe a past due balance.
• SMECO usually uses an automated phone system with a recorded message; rarely will SMECO employees make personal “collection” phone calls.
• Collection calls are made about 10 days before service is to be terminated. SMECO does not require payment at the time of the call.
• SMECO does not make collection calls or terminate service on weekends or holidays.
• If service is going to be terminated, a SMECO collector will knock on the customer’s door before turning off service.
• SMECO collectors will accept credit card payments, checks, or money orders, but they do not accept cash.
If a customer is concerned about the status of an account, a SMECO contact center representative can provide helpful information. SMECO’s phone number is printed at the top of customer bills. For more information about email scams, phone scams, and SMECO’s collection process, customers can visit SMECO’s website at http://www.smeco.coop/yourSafety/scamAlerts.aspx.
SMECO is a customer-owned electric cooperative, and we are proud to be a J.D. Power 2014 Customer Champion. We are one of an elite group of 50 U.S. companies to be named to this list.
SMECO provides electricity to more than 156,000 services in southern Prince George’s County, and in Charles County, St. Mary’s County, and all but the northeast portion of Calvert County. Co-ops are distinctly different from investor-owned utilities because co-ops are owned by their customers, and these members elect the men and women who serve on the Board of Directors.
Co-ops also issue capital credits to their members. What are capital credits? They are the member’s share of the co-op’s margins, based on how much electricity the member purchased and the rate at which the account was billed. SMECO’s margins—revenue less expenses—are used as working capital for new construction and system improvements. When SMECO’s Board of Directors determines that a percentage of the capital credits can be distributed to members through a general refund, capital credits will be issued by check or credited to members’ electric bills.
