Crime & Safety

CL Police Warn Residents, Businesses of Fake ComEd Calling Scam

Crystal Lake Police have received reports of fake ComEd bill collectors trying to scam local business owners.

The Crystal Lake Police Department is warning residents and business owners about fraudulent telephone callers purporting themselves to be ComEd representatives asking for overdue payments. 

The police department recently received reports of the fake callers who are threatening to turn off business owners' power immediately if they don't pay their delinquent electric bills, according to a news release issued by Police Cmdr. Tom Kretschmer.

In one case the fake ComEd caller advised the business owner to go to a 7-Eleven or Walgreens to purchase a prepaid Visa card. The fraudulent caller provides a telephone number and requests a call-back with the prepaid card number so the business can balance the account.

When the victims call the phone number, a recording states the number belongs to ComEd, but a message says the company is having telephone issues. The subject attempting fraud then calls the business back to obtain the prepaid card number, according to the news release. 

To date, all of the incidents in Crystal Lake have targeted businesses, Kretschmer said. 

The correct contact numbers for ComEd are: 

Residential Customers 1-800-588-9477 
Business Customers 1-877-426-6331 

Or residents can contact the company via ComEd’s webpage at: https://www.comed.com/Pages/default.aspx 

Police remind the public that if someone calls and asks for personal information, or asks residents to pay anything they believe they do not owe, they should NOT PROVIDE the caller with any personal or credit information.

If residents believe a caller is attempting to de-fraud them, they should contact their local law enforcement agency and make a report.

The Crystal Lake Police Department’s non-emergency telephone number is 1-815-356-3620.



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