Wednesday a story ran in the Item based on a press release from Coast Electric alerting customers of a potential scam concerning online payments.
The initial story stated that emails coming from a company called doxo could be part of a phishing scam. The scam alert was issued after customers contacted Coast Electric because payments made through the third party company were not received by Coast Electric.
Thursday an update to the release was sent out by Coast Electric stating, “Coast Electric made a mistake in saying that emails from doxo were part of a phishing scam.”
It appears that while Coast Electric is not affiliated with doxo, individual customers of the electric company have chosen to pay their bills through the third party service, for a fee of $1.99.
Coast Electric encourages their customers to utilize their first party direct payment options, including six brick and mortar locations, the use of a smartphone application called “CE on the Go” or the company’s web portal. The release states that by utilizing these methods to pay their bills customers can avoid fees and delays.
“By using a Coast Electric payment option, members are ensured payments are received without processing fees or potential delays,” the updated release states.
The release states that Coast Electric advises customers to avoid opening emails from unknown sources and the non-profit, member-owned cooperative will continue to alert customers to any suspicious activity.