Two recent scams where the caller poses as a Florida Power and Light employee prompted Port St. Lucie police on Monday to issue a warning to the public.
On June 7, officers went to a restaurant located in the 1700 block of SE Port St. Lucie Boulevard for reports of a scam.
During the investigation, officers said they learned that the victim received a phone message from someone claiming to be a representative of FPL. The message said that the victim was behind on their bill and FPL will be shutting off power to the business.
The victim said they called the number left on the message and spoke to a person impersonating a FPL employee.
Police said the suspect told the victim that she could not pay online because the payment would not go through in time to avoid the power being disconnected.
The victim went to a local store and bought a Green Dot card for $500, called the number back and gave them the card number. The victim was told to reload the card to pay the remaining amount of the bill.
The victim told police she became suspicious and contacted with her husband, who later called their accountant. The accountant told the victim's that their electric bill was up to date and that they had just been scammed.
Second Scam Reported
On June 8, Port St. Lucie police received a report of an employee of another restaurant located in the 1000 block of Port St. Lucie Boulevard who was also called by a person impersonating a FPL employee.
The victim in this case was also told to get a Green Dot card in the amount of $500 and after the victim gave the number of the card to the suspect he was told to reload the card to pay the remaining amount.
As the victim went to reload the Green Dot card at Walgreens, he became suspicious and called police.
Police have not indicated if any arrests have been made in the cases.
All FPL fraudulent activity should be reported to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services at 800-453-7352.
