Call PNM before paying a demand to keep power on

Carol Rising and Dana Brabson, owners of Quilts Olé in Corrales, found themselves parked at a Chevron station recently, awaiting instructions on how to pay off a supposed $1,200 PNM bill.

They realized how odd the scenario was, and they made the one phone call — to the real PNM — that saved them from becoming the latest utility scam victims.

“We had the money in our hot little hands,” Rising says. “We got further along than we would have liked.”

In New Mexico, most PNM scams target homeowners rather than businesses. Last year, 95% of the 2,044 customer reports the utility received were from residential customers.

And the fraud came mostly by phone, PNM says, although so far this year there have been a few attempts in person and by email.

Phone was the preferred means in the Quilts Olé case. The caller spoke with the shop’s bookkeeper and threatened disconnection unless the business paid $1,200 in cash. The store manager also spoke to the caller several times.

To make things seem more legitimate, the phone number provided led to recordings that sounded identical to the official PNM.

Rising and Brabson stepped in and followed directions by traveling to the Chevron station, where they were supposed to call the bogus PNM person for a specific code so they could pay at a machine inside.

Instead, they called the real PNM on a number they found independently and were assured they were not past due and that the whole thing was hogwash.

“All the warning bells went off, but it’s like every scam that wants money — it’s an emergency, so you don’t have time to think about it,” Rising says.

Says Brabson, “If you lose electricity, you basically have to shut down your business.”

The couple’s advice is to contact the utility directly so “you can talk to a person who knows what they’re talking about.”

PNM spokeswoman Shannon Jackson suggests doing this for an immediate check on whether your bill is past due: Log into your PNM.com account or text #BAL to PNM from the cell phone number associated with your account.

You can also call the company at 1-888-342-5766, which is the number printed on your bill. A representative can tell you whether anyone from the utility tried to contact you and whether you owe money.

The good news is the incidence of such scams has been declining. Last year, PNM received 2,044 reports from customers, down by 62% in 2020.

“(I)t appears customers are catching on to scammer tactics because the numbers are trending down,” Jackson says. “Sadly, there are still thousands of customers that fall victim to this crime each year.”

Imposter scams, in which the con artist pretends to be someone else, and identity theft were the two types of fraud that most plagued New Mexicans last year.

The state racked up total losses of $38.2 million from all kinds of scams in 2022, with more than 17,000 reports submitted, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s annual report.

That put New Mexico at No. 31 in the nation. The worst place for scams was Georgia, while North Dakota is the best place to go for beating the odds of scam victimhood.

Contact Ellen Marks at emarks@ abqjournal.com or (505) 823-3842 if you are aware of what sounds like a scam. To report a scam to law enforcement, contact the New Mexico Consumer Protection Division toll-free at 1 (844) 255-9210, prompt 5. Complaints can be filed electronically at https://www.nmag. gov/contact-us/file-a-complaint/.