The King County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents about a scam:
This is a strong warning that the power company scam is making the rounds again.
On February 1, 2020, about 2 p.m., a Burien man called 911 to say he suspected that he had been scammed.
The victim received a call from “Jason” from “Seattle City Light.” The fictitious Jason told the victim he was behind on his payments. Since he had been out of the country for several months he worried the caller might be right. Phony Jason then threatened to cut power to the victim’s house if payment was not received right away. Fake Jason even had the victim’s account numbers, so the victim felt this might actually be Seattle City Light calling.
As instructed, the victim loaded $742.80 on two Green Dot prepaid cards and provided the numbers to the suspect over the phone. Sadly, this was a scam and our victim has lost his money.
Remember, no legitimate company will ever have you go to a store and buy a pre-paid card and provide that number over the phone.
Please warn your friends and relatives – especially older members of our community who are particularly vulnerable to scams.