Mt. Lebanon Police Warn Of Phone Scam In Facebook Video

MT. LEBANON (KDKA) -- The Mount Lebanon Police Department is using Facebook to warn residents and business owners about a phone scam that has made its way into their neighborhood involving people posing as Duquesne Light workers.

A video was posted to the department's Facebook page Thursday.

In it, Mount Lebanon Police Lt. Duane Fisher says the call sounds legitimate, but they are warning people not to be misled.

"It sounds so legitimate when you make the call to the call center that most anybody could be fooled into giving them credit card information, account information or anything else like that," Lt. Fisher says.

He dials the number and hears call center instructions in both English and Spanish and hold music, but when he reaches a person on the other end and identifies himself as police, he is met with an expletive-filled rant.

"I really didn't anticipate that he was going to answer since he had cut me off so many times before on the hold music," Lt. Fisher said. "It was a little bit of a shock when he picked up and gave me a few expletives."

According to police, the scam targeted a local business recently.

One of the scammers showed up at the business dressed in a Duquesne Light uniform and told the employees they had 72 hours to pay their bill or their electricity would be turned off.

"After about 72 hours, the business owner received a phone call stating that a technician was in fact in route to cut off the power," said Lt. Fisher. "Fortunately, our business owner did a little bit of homework and confirmed via his online Duquesne Light account and via telephone that his account was paid in full."

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Police say when the business owner questioned the caller, they said they could not take the payment and provided a number to call to make other arrangements.

Lt. Fisher says that phone number may change from scam case to scam case, but the circumstances remain the same.

"This same type of scam's going to continue, just with a new number," Lt. Fisher said.

Lt. Fisher is warning people and business owners to be cautious.

"They're out there and they're trying to get your money. Please be careful and make sure you know who you're talking to," said Lt. Fisher.

For more information on how to avoid scams, visit Duquesne Light's website here.

Watch the video here: