Consumer Alert: A Chili viewer stopped an utility scam before the caller got a payment

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Consumer Rights · Scam Alert · October 19, 2026, 3:37 PM CDT

Key Facts

WHEC issued a new alert: Consumer Alert: A Chili viewer stopped an utility scam before the caller got a payment
CHILI, N.Y. — An alert Chili resident stopped a utility scam and hopes his story will help others avoid similar trouble.
How it reaches victims: Phone call.
Tactics the source describes: Impersonates a trusted organization.

Forensic Scam Anatomy · Threat Intelligence
HIGH THREAT VECTOR

Attack Classification: Phone Impersonation / Vishing

Impersonated Entity: Public Utility / Electric Company

Deceptive Vector: Vishing (Caller ID spoofing with urgent audio intimidation)

Demanded Payment: Counterfeit Cashier's Check / Overpayment Refund

Consumer Loss Exposure: Median $500 – $1,000 loss per victim (National Consumer Average)

Federal Criminal Statute: 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (Wire Fraud — Up to 20 Years)

Action Step: Hang up immediately. Never call back on numbers provided in the voicemail or caller ID.
Report to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) →

Consumer Alert: A Chili viewer stopped an utility scam before the caller got a payment.

An alert Chili resident stopped a utility scam and hopes his story will help others avoid similar trouble.

Threat to cut off power Sam Montante said he realized something was wrong when a caller claiming to be from RG&E threatened to turn off his gas and electric.

“They told me we’re going to turn off your gas and electric,” Montante said.^[1]

Where It Happened

Town of Chili, New York Monroe County

The pin marks Town of Chili as named in the report, not an exact address. Map data: OpenStreetMap contributors.

What the Scam Looks Like

How it reaches you: Phone call

What WHEC reports scammers do

Sam Montante said he realized something was wrong when a caller claiming to be from RG&E threatened to turn off his gas and electric.
“They told me we’re going to turn off your gas and electric,” Montante said.
They said you didn’t pay your bill.
I said I did,” Montante said.
Montante and his wife Aleta were prepared with their checkbook and bills, and when the caller could not answer their questions, the call ended.
“No, all of a sudden it went silent and I got a dial tone,” Montante said.
RG&E has a page listing scams and frauds, calling this the disconnection threat.

Impersonates a trusted organization

WHEC does not publish the exact wording of the phone call, so none is shown. The sentences above are the source’s own description, not a transcript.

How to Protect Yourself

Contact the organization directly using a phone number or website you look up yourself, not one provided in the message.

How to Verify This Yourself

Read the original alert directly at WHEC — that page is the primary source for everything above.

References

WHEC. Consumer Alert: A Chili viewer stopped an utility scam before the caller got a payment. ↩

Investigative methodology: this update was produced by scripts/scam_monitor.py from a real WHEC alert — not a language model. The quoted text above is verbatim from the source; any message or description shown in the illustration is quoted or copied from the source itself (see its caption); when the source does not publish the scam’s wording, none is shown or invented. Protection tips are matched from a fixed keyword list, not generated per story.

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Consumer Rights Oct 19, 2026Consumer Alert: A Chili viewer stopped an utility scam before the caller got a payment