None — A scam that Eyewitness News exposed last summer that targeted Duke Energy customers is happening again.
Anne Lundy contacted Channel 9 after seeing stories about a man who was approaching customers outside of Duke Energy payment centers, claiming to be a Duke employee and offering to pay their full bills if they gave him some of it in cash up front.
"I turned around and saw it on the news and put two and two together and called the news station," she said.
Lundy was angry about what happened. Working together, Lundy and Channel 9 got a brief but clear picture of the man who she said had taken her money and passed it on to police.
Investigators said they recognized Christopher Lamont Davis and arrested him several weeks later.
But, apparently, that was not the end of the story. Detective Andy Curlee with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department showed Channel 9 a report in which a 24-year-old woman told police she gave a man who claimed to be a Duke Energy employee $150 to help her pay her bill.
The woman said she met the man 10 days earlier at a motel off Interstate 85. She said the meeting didn't last long and that she felt pressured to give the man her money quickly. By the time she figured out it was a scam, she said the man had disappeared.
Eyewitness News showed the woman a picture of the man charged in the scam involving Lundy, and she said he looked very much like the man who took her money.
Davis has been out of jail while the charges work their way through court.
Duke said it may be no coincidence that it's seeing scams starting again.
"It started a few weeks ago and, right now, we've identified about 50 accounts," Paige Lane with Duke Energy said.
Police said it's too early to say who's behind the latest payment scams.
"I'm sure that the detective who's in charge of this case will be following up with all possible leads," Curlee said.
Additional Information
Duke Energy Billing And Payment Services Duke Energy Fraud Alert
Previous Stories: May 25, 2010: Whistleblower 9: Viewer Reports Being Victim Of Bill Payment Scam May 24, 2010: Whistleblower 9: Bill Payment Scam Targets Duke Energy Customers