Verdigris Valley Electric Coop Warns Of Telephone Survey Scam

Verdigris Valley Electric Cooperative warns of a phone scam by persons representing themselves as the company and asking members for credit card information. The company is not calling residents asking them to take part in a survey or pay for their monthly newsletter the Power Circuit, according to a release.

"This is a scam," said VVEC General Manager Alice Houston. "Any time we conduct a phone survey of our members, we let them know in advance that they may be contacted."

Houston said a member from the Claremore area was contacted by a man claiming to represent VVEC and asking if the man read the Power Circuit. When the Rogers County man answered "yes," the caller claimed the company was now charging $72 a year for the publication.

The con artist tried to get the man to give him credit card information over the phone, but he refused, the release states.

Sergeant Jason Cummings of the Claremore Police Department urges anyone who feels they have been the victim of a telephone scam to contact them or the sheriff's office.

"The caller's phone number may be blocked so it may show as 'unavailable' on Caller ID," Cummings said. "But record the number if there is one."

The non-emergency number for the Claremore Police Department is 918-341-1212.