Pocatello police warn about dangerous scam going around
Pocatello police are warning about a dangerous scam they say appears extremely realistic.
According to police, there are reports of a scam claiming to be Idaho Power and saying you are behind on your bills and they will shut off your power if not paid.
Police say they had a Pocatello business, Downard Funeral Home, come in and say they had received a strange voicemail on their answering service.
The voicemail said they were Idaho Power, the company was behind in payments, and if they didn’t call back and take care of it, their power would be shut off. According to police, the number given to call back goes to what sounds like Idaho Power’s actual answering service.
Police say a recording says, “Thank you for calling Idaho Power. Press 1 for residential, 2 for business”, etc. Then when you make a selection, it goes to a person who sounds like they are in a call center.
Police say the number knew legitimate info as well. In the case of Downard, it knew where they were located, how much their monthly bill was, etc.
Police say Downard knew they weren’t behind and flagged it as suspicious. When police called the number, they found the same issues.
Police officers say they dialed both the fake Idaho Power scam number, and Idaho Power’s real number and they sound exactly the same. Police say when they started questioning the person on the scam line, they got angry and it soon became clear it was a scam, not the real Idaho Power.
Police are urging everyone to be careful and not to fall for it. They said, especially on a weekend, it would likely to be normal to get an answering service so wait and try and speak to an actual Idaho Power employee during the week who you can verify is legitimate, or even go in person to take care of it.
KIFI/KIDK also called both numbers and verified it does sound the same, and the scam number can sound extremely legitimate.
The number given for the fake callback number in this case was 1-888-826-7559. The real Idaho Power number starts with 1-800. However, police say don’t rely on the number alone, that can be changed. Be vigilant and don’t fall for a scam. Always verify with the company yourself.
