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CHANDLER, Ariz. (KSAZ) - A Valley business owner was reportedly targeted by scammers who claimed to be with utility company SRP, demanding hundreds of dollars in pre-paid gift cards.
The matter could have been a lot worse, if not for the watchful eye of two Fry's grocery store employees.
The two employees, identified only as "Stuart" and "Lori", have worked at the store in Chandler for years, and said they had a feeling when a customer came in earlier in the month to buy pre-paid gift cards, something wasn't quite right.
"He just wasn't sure," said Lori. "He wanted to purchase those gift cards, and he seemed a little bit nervous.
The victim, identified only as "Joshua", did not want to show his face, but said the advice from Stuart and Lori saved him hundreds of dollars.
"They immediately said, 'look, if that's what you want to do, go ahead and do it,'" recountd Joshua. "Our suggestion is we really don't want to sell you this, because we think this is a scam."
SRP officials said the scam is not new, with the caller saying the customer's power will be turned off in a few hours, unless they pay up.
"They were with SRP, and they were giving us a courtesy notice that the power was going to be disconnected in the next two hours," recounted Joshua. "After 65 years on Earth, I've seen a lot of different stuff, so you wouldn't think I'd be taken advantage of, and I was."
"Fry's does train us very well as to what to look for and to be aware of," said Lori. "Any day we can stop this, it's a good day."
SRP officials said the scammers usually hit on weekends or holidays, and they are reminding people to call or go to an SRP location, should they get one of these phone calls.