Simi Valley Police warn residents–scammers are working the area

nurse times; font-size: 16px;”>The Simi Valley Police Department would like to warn the community of two scams that are impacting our citizens. It works like this; the victim receives a telephone call from an individual who identifies himself as an “Edison Employee” or as an “Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Employee” and tells the victim that they owe money. The caller states that if the victim does not make the payment, the power at their residence will be shut off or their wages attached for the tax payment. The scammer tells the victim that the payment must be made using a pre-paid money card. Once the victim gets the money card they are directed to call the scammer back and to give him the money card number. The victim learns that it was a scam after the transaction is complete. The Simi Valley Police Department has received several calls from Simi Valley residence who have fallen victim to these scams and have lost hundreds and in some cases, thousands of dollars.

The Simi Valley Police Department would like to warn its citizens of these latest scams and advise them that if you receive a call from anyone claiming to be a representative of Southern California Edison or the IRS and they demand money, providing a money card number over the phone is not how either of these institutions collects overdue payments. If you believe you have received one of these calls and or question the legitimacy of a call, you can contact Southern California Edison at 1-800-655-4555 or www.sce.com or the IRS at 1-800-829-4477 or http://www.irs.gov to confirm you actually owe money and how to safely make your payment. Do not provide anyone with a money card number of the phone. If you believe that you are a victim of either of these scams you can call your local law enforcement agency to report it. The Simi Valley Police Department can be contacted at 805-583-6950.

Source: Simi Valley Police Department