SWFL residents falling victim to electricity restoration scams

Credit: City of Naples

Southwest Florida residents are being scammed just days after Hurricane Ian swept through Florida.

Scammers are promising residents to have their electricity restored quickly if they pay a certain amount.

Scammers are sending bar codes that look like the “Pay Near Me” program. A barcode is provided with symbols for RaceTrac, 7-Eleven, Publix, etc.

The City of Naples urges residents not to fall victim to this scam.

FPL does not conduct such operations.

Some of the most common scams include:

The caller pretends to be a Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) employee and insists your account is delinquent. Caller ID may even falsely display our number and appear to be FPL.
The caller threatens to turn off power to your home or business within an hour if payment isn’t made immediately and may even claim a truck is on the way.
The caller demands immediate payment only with a prepaid card or wire transfer and provides a callback number that mimics our customer service line.

For more information on FPL and on avoiding scams, go to: https://www.fpl.com/landing/protect.html

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