Phishing scam targets Lake Wylie business, Fort Mill nonprofit

Residents, businesses and a not-for-profit organization have been targets of a phishing scam, according to the York County Sheriff’s Office.

Phishing scams are phone-based attempts to steal money from unsuspecting people.

More than six residents and local businesses reported receiving calls from a man with a foreign accent pretending to be a Duke Energy representative. Customers are told their account is in arrears and they are about to lose service.

To avoid penalties, customers are told to put $2,000 on a Net Spend Card, a prepaid and untraceable debit card, or deposit the funds into a PayPal account.

“Their timing was impeccable as I was rushing to All Saints to cater a senior citizen luncheon,” said Francis Keefe Jr. co-owner of the Bagel Boat in Lake Wylie, a target of one of the phone calls. “They were good cons. They made it sound like they were doing me a favor not to disconnect us while we did the luncheon. It was, ‘No problem, I’ll call you back with the confirmation number.’”

The caller appears to be from the power company – a practice known as spoofing – and had a legitimate sounding message that stated, “Thank you for calling Duke Energy, press one to report a power outage, press two for customer service,”according to the York County Sheriff’s Office.

“The Duke 800 number appeared on my caller ID. I was almost completely sucked into the scam,” Keefe said.

The Humane Society of York County was also called. Officials declined to discuss the incident other than to confirm that the details matched what Keefe experienced.

Keefe avoided the scam because a few details about office locations and payment suggestions alerted red flags, but the callers were believable.

“It was pretty convincing, (but) fortunately our instincts helped and we decided to call Duke directly. Duke advised us of the scam and suggested we call the police,” he said.

The scam isn’t far-reaching – at least not yet. It has not been seen in Fort Mill, Tega Cay or Lancaster County, officials said.

But, as with all phone scams, they can spread quickly, officials said.

The York County Sheriff’s Office offers tips to help avoid this and similar scams and urges residents to call the authorities if they become wary of a caller:

▪  Utility companies will not ask for prepaid cards for bill payment, and if unknown callers ask for personal information including account balances, Social Security number or passwords of any sort, hang up immediately.

▪  Don’t make hasty decisions. If the legitimacy of the call is in doubt, hang up and call your utility department or the police.

▪  Many of these scams originate overseas. If the caller uses poor grammar or has a heavy accent, be on alert. And, under no circumstances should money be wired overseas for any type of utility account.

▪  If residents feel they are on a suspicious call, hang up and immediately call the authorities.

This story was originally published March 12, 2015 at 10:02 AM with the headline "Phishing scam targets Lake Wylie business, Fort Mill nonprofit."