{"id":99586,"date":"2026-07-17T05:54:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T09:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=99586"},"modified":"2026-06-30T15:56:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T19:56:37","slug":"fraud-watch-credit-repair-scams-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-5-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=99586","title":{"rendered":"Fraud Watch- Utility Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Reprinted with permission from AARP’s Fraud Watch Network.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As rising summer temperatures cause energy demands to increase, criminals exploit fears of losing power and air conditioning by posing as local utility companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scammers place threatening phone calls, phishing emails, or urgent text messages aimed at convincing consumers to supply personal data or to click on unverified links to resolve a past-due balance. Oftentimes these schemes are accompanied by a push to receive instant payment through unconventional payment methods like gift cards, or cryptocurrency.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you receive an unexpected threat to terminate your service, take an active pause and contact the utility company\u2019s customer service department using the number from your physical bill or the company\u2019s website (don\u2019t search \u2013 go directly to the site) to check your account status. Chances are it\u2019s a scam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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More Topic Resources<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Report scams to local law enforcement. For help from AARP, call 1-877-908-3360 or visit the AARP Fraud Watch Network at aarp.org\/fraudwatchnetwork<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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AARP Fraud Watch Network<\/h2><\/div>

Need a scam prevention speaker<\/a> for your group? Click the link to fill out the AARP online form or email me@aarp.org<\/a>.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Share this news!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Subscribe to the Maine State Grange Website<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As rising summer temperatures cause energy demands to increase, criminals exploit fears of losing power and air conditioning by posing as local utility companies. Scammers place threatening phone calls, phishing emails, or urgent text messages aimed at convincing consumers to supply personal data or to click on unverified links to resolve a past-due balance. Oftentimes … Continue reading “Fraud Watch- Utility Scams”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2122,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,218],"tags":[508,506,272,507],"post_folder":[696],"class_list":["post-99586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-service","category-resources-for-granges-and-grangers","tag-aarp-fraud-watch","tag-fraud-alert","tag-grange-communication","tag-scam-alert"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"post-thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Walter Boomsma","author_link":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?author=2122"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"As rising summer temperatures cause energy demands to increase, criminals exploit fears of losing power and air conditioning by posing as local utility companies. Scammers place threatening phone calls, phishing emails, or urgent text messages aimed at convincing consumers to supply personal data or to click on unverified links to resolve a past-due balance. Oftentimes…","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1arC1-pUe","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99586"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99587,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99586\/revisions\/99587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99586"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=99586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}