High Desert residents should be on the lookout for a potential telephone scam from a caller who claims to be from the city of Victorville and is requesting money to avoid a water shutoff.
City officials said they learned about the con on Tuesday after community members reported receiving suspicious calls from someone who said they were from “Victorville Customer Service.”
The caller requested “water utility payments and personal information,” officials said.
The scammer is also using a “spoofing” device, so the caller ID shows as the city’s customer service number, said Victorville spokesperson Sue Jones. Victorville’s actual service number is 760-955-5001.
Customer service representatives would never call customers for payment to avoid a water shutoff, according to officials. Instead, mailed notices are sent.
Water shutoffs are also not in effect at the moment due to an executive order issued by Governor Gavin Newsom in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jones said each person who reported a suspicious call “found something off about the phone call they received, so they knew something was wrong.”
“For example, one person didn’t live in Victorville; so they knew it was strange to be receiving a phone call from someone claiming to be with ‘Victorville Customer Service.’ Another community member told us the caller asked for her address,” Jones said. “She was aware enough to question why the caller wouldn’t have her address if the caller was really with ‘Victorville Customer Service’ as they claimed.”
Another person said they were on a well and didn’t have city water service.
Imposter scams — where a scammer pretends to be someone a person trusts to convince them to send them money — was the most common type of fraud reported in the U.S. last year.
The Federal Trade Commission — the government agency responsible for consumer protection — reported that out of $3.3 billion lost to fraud in 2020, nearly $1.2 billion was due to imposter scams.
The loss of money reported last year was 83% higher than the $1.8 billion reported in 2019.
Last year, an elderly Apple Valley woman was conned out of $2,000 from callers pretending to be San Bernardino County Sheriff’s employees. They instructed her to purchase gift cards and then asked for the confirmation numbers.
City officials weren’t aware of anyone who had money stolen due to the most recent scam and had alerted the sheriff’s department, Jones said.
“We suggest anyone who believes they are a victim of a crime to reach out to law enforcement to make a report,” she said.
The FTC recommends always calling the real agency the caller is claiming to be from and never paying with a gift card or wire transfer.
Daily Press reporter Martin Estacio may be reached at 760-955-5358 or MEstacio@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_mestacio.
