SMECO Scam

RoseRed

RoseRed

American Beauty
PREMO Member
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SMECO has been notified that members are receiving calls from scammers threatening to disconnect their power if they don't make a payment. In some cases, the caller is giving a quick deadline and in others they are advising members have only 30 minutes or an hour to pay. The caller ID even says SMECO. Do not make a payment until you’ve checked your account balance. SMECO will not call and threaten to disconnect your power in 30 minutes.

Don’t get tricked! Payment scams have become more prevalent as technology has developed over the years and people have found new ways to cheat unsuspecting consumers out of their hard-earned money. SMECO wants to prevent scammers from victimizing its customers.​
If you receive a phone call from someone threatening to disconnect your power, you may hang up. If you want to verify account information, you can call SMECO directly. Our customer care center is open 24 hours a day, every day. SMECO’s phone number is 1-888-440-3311, and it’s printed on every customer bill. The following describes SMECO’s routine for collecting payments from customers.

  • SMECO will mail a termination notice if a bill is past due.
  • SMECO calls customers who owe a past due balance using an automated phone system with a recorded message; rarely will SMECO employees make personal “collection” phone calls.
  • Collection calls are made about 10 days before service is to be terminated. SMECO does not require payment at the time of the call.
  • Unknown callers who give short deadlines and threaten to cut off service within an hour or two are probably running a scam.
  • SMECO does not make collection calls or terminate service on weekends or holidays.
  • If service is going to be terminated, a SMECO collector will knock on the customer’s door before turning off service.
  • SMECO collectors will accept credit card payments, checks, or money orders, but they do not accept cash.
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For customers who believe they have received a fraudulent email or phone call, some basic guidelines follow.

  • Customers should use the phone number printed on their monthly bill and only give payment information over the phone if they initiate the contact.
  • Customers should not provide personal information, banking information, user names, passwords, or account information to unauthorized callers or in an email.
  • Customers should not provide Green Dot, Western Union, or Moneygram payments to unauthorized callers.
  • Customers should never meet unauthorized callers at a local store or bank to make a payment—their personal safety could be at risk.
Southern Maryland Electric Co-op | P.O. Box 1937, Hughesville, MD 20637​
 
RareBreed

RareBreed

Throwing the deuces
Although they won't threaten to disconnect you in 30 minutes, they will threaten to disconnect you in the dead of Winter near Christmas for not paying your bill until you advise them that you are on auto-pay so it was THEM who forgot to pay the bill. :lol:
 
Gilligan

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
We have three SMECO accounts on one property. We usually send the payment in one check, one envelope, with all three pay stubs. At some point in time they had someone "not very smort" receiving the checks and crediting the accounts because we received a disconnection notice; turned out the moron in their office was crediting the entire check to just one of the accounts. So we had a big positive balance on one....and a disconnect notice on another. :killingme
 
LightRoasted

LightRoasted

If I may ...
For your consideration ...

SMECO in and of itself is the scam. It lost any true COOP status many years ago to become an uncaring conglomerate. As it now has zero personality. Shut down all, if not most, local payment centers. Shut down the annual vote meeting in Hughesville. Keeping all concerned at arms length now solely by distanced voting by mail or online only. Outsourcing everything possible, damn the local employee involvement. Rants over only the residential energy rate when in total, adding every line item on the bill, the actual rate people pay is near $.14 per kwh.
 
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spr1975wshs

spr1975wshs

Mostly settled in...
Ad Free Experience
Patron
We've gotten a few of the energy saver checks from them, and I am actually not trying to save, just use what we need.
 
TPD

TPD

the poor dad
LightRoasted said:
For your consideration ...

SMECO in and of itself is the scam. It lost any true COOP status many years ago to become an uncaring conglomerate. As it now has zero personality. Shut down all, if not most, local payment centers. Shut down the annual vote meeting in Hughesville. Keeping all concerned at arms length now solely by distanced voting by mail or online only. Outsourcing everything possible, damn the local employee involvement. Rants over only the residential energy rate when in total, adding every line item on the bill, the actual rate people pay is near $.14 per kwh.
Click to expand...
Nailed it!
 
W

wubbles

Active Member
Anyone enrolled in their energy perks program? Every once in a while I get a really short survey to do which have added up to maybe 20 minutes over the past year and have earned $60 in statement credits or $120 in their online store credit. Pretty decent little program. I think I've seen maybe two $10-20 rebate credits over the last 10 years I've been a customer. Maybe there were others I missed.
 
kwillia

kwillia

n/a
PrchJrkr said:
Checked Mommy Dearest's checking account and saw that July had been paid and I warned her of the scam. I think she hopes they call. She cusses at them in Polish.
😆
Click to expand...
No clue on how to spell the words so phonetic…
Shedneesheba
Itspotz
Tundadunda
Studdabubba
 
PrchJrkr

PrchJrkr

Long Haired Country Boy
Ad Free Experience
Patron
kwillia said:
No clue on how to spell the words so phonetic…
Shedneesheba
Itspotz
Tundadunda
Studdabubba
Click to expand...
The ones that stick with me are

Yeiso Smoddia
Dupa
And one that rolls the R's so hard, the right side of my tongue gets sore for a week, even if I type it.
 
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