Wednesday afternoon two people were the target of a scammer who threatened to turn their power off if they didn't pay up.

The two are members of People's Energy Cooperative, who reported the scammer went by the name 'Rudy.' He gave them a truck number and numbers to call to pay off. 'Rudy' said to call (800) 330-1105 or (800) 291-0782 to pay.

We can confirm that we do not have anyone employed at People’s Energy by the name of “Rudy” and the truck number given does not exist in our fleet. Also, both numbers given to call are not associated with People’s Energy Cooperative. Thankfully, both members hung up and called PEC to report the incidents.

As do most legitimate organizations, People Energy Cooperative says their staff will NOT request back or payment information over the phone. They may ask for information to identify who the member is, but that's it.

If you get a call like this, hang up and call PEC directly at (507) 367-7000.

Some scams are quite well done and hard to distinguish at first. Others, not so much. Like this one that I received back in January (see the whole story here). Click play to hear just how unconvincing it was.

Listen to James Rabe Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 11-Noon on KROC AM 1340 and 96.9 FM and Weekdays with Jessica Williams Weekday from 6 - 10 AM on Y-105 FM

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