Verdigris Valley Electric Co-Op Member Receives Scam Call

Every month Charles Morgan gets his Verdigris Valley Electric Cooperative newsletter.

The cost is less than $3 and it is rolled into the customer service charge on his electric bill.

That's why he knew something was strange when he got a call from someone posing as a VVEC employee.

"He says, 'Well it's time to renew your subscription,' Morgan said. "I said, 'What do you mean it's time to renew my subscription?'"

Morgan says the caller told him if he paid a $72 yearly subscription then the company would drop the cost of his outdoor security light to $5.

"He said, 'Just give me your Visa card and I'll put it on that,'" Morgan said. "I said, 'No I don't want it. … "I learned a long time ago you don't trust a lot of them."

Morgan called VVEC immediately.

"Our initial reaction was we were surprised that someone would be that creative, I guess you could say, and we truly appreciate Mr. Morgan acting on it so quickly," VVEC Communications Specialist Kay Rabbitt-Brower said.

Rabbitt-Brower said if the company is planning to make calls of that nature, members would be told in advance.

"We are going to let them know through the monthly letter that we are conducting a survey," Rabbitt-Brower said.

And if you get a call that seems suspicious, Rabbitt-Brower suggests you hang up and call VVEC to verify the call.

"We're not going to ask for Social Security Number," she said. "We're not going to ask for credit card, debit card, banking information, so that -- we hope -- would be a red flag for someone that it's not us."

Rabbitt-Brower said, so far, Morgan is the only member who has contacted the company about the scam.

If you have received a strange call, she asks that you call VVEC to report it.