DTE Energy impersonator scams Livonia business owner

Livonia police are warning people who receive fraudulent calls from those claiming to be from a utility company to be aware after a resident lost several hundreds of dollars.

A 40-year-old Livonia woman came into the city’s police station Saturday afternoon to report she had been the victim of a scam. The resident, who also owns a restaurant on Five Mile in Livonia, told police she received a call a few hours earlier from someone named Jerry, who identified himself as being with DTE Energy.

The suspect told her she was late on an electric bill for her business and that if she did not pay it within one hour, her power would be cut off. The caller instructed her to go to a CVS on Five Mile in Livonia and put more than $900 onto a MoneyGram card and make the payment through that service. He told her where to send it as well.

She went to the store, placed the money on the card and had it transferred to the account the caller requested it go to. Afterward, she realized she may have been scammed and called MoneyGram. The company informed her the transaction appeared to be fraudulent and that she should file a police report.

When she filed the report at the police station, an officer called the number claiming to be DTE Energy and spoke to “Jerry.” The officer told him over the phone that he had received a call regarding an overdue payment and wanted more information. When the suspect asked the officer for his account number, the officer said he did not have it. The suspect then hung up.

DTE Energy officials do not make such calls seeking payment using these methods, said spokesman Scott Simons, and the company does not ask for payments using prepaid methods or collect going door-to-door.

“This is a national scam,” he said. “Our customers should know we never ask them to make payments using a Green Dot card or any other prepaid debit card.”

Anyone who feels they may have been the victim of such a scam is encouraged to contact their local police department. DTE Energy also encourages those targeted in such scams to contact customer service at 1-800-477-4747.

dveselenak@hometownlife.com | 734-678-6728 Twitter: @DavidVeselenak