MESQUITE, Texas — A Mesquite daycare owner wants to warn others about a scam that cost her business $5,000 and that she worries could bilk others, particularly as cold weather moves in.
It began Saturday when Georgia Thornton said she got a call at her daycare, Achievers of Excellence Learning Academy, warning that Oncor was 10 minutes away from shutting her power off.
Thornton knew she had paid her bill, but said scammers convinced her otherwise. Believing she had only minutes before the power would be cut — causing issues for her and the parents who rely upon her daycare to watch their kids — she used a barcode the scammers provided and transferred away half the money she had set aside to make payroll.
“We’re talking thousands,” she said. “I screamed. To be honest, I screamed.”
She filed a report with Mesquite Police, who said the case has been assigned to a fraud investigator. But the money, about $5,000, is gone.
“That was the most devastating part. When it showed up on my statement, it was cleared,” she said.
A police spokesperson said the number she called was not linked to power company Oncor, as the scammers said.
But that hasn’t stopped Thornton from texting the scammer a piece of her mind. “Did you all's parents raise you all to do this?” She asked them. “That was not right and it is not right. Return the monies you stole.”
She hasn’t heard back — but she does have a warning for other people, particularly as scammers work to convince them they will lose power as cold weather moves in if they don’t pay.
"Just no matter how urgent the messenger sounds. Just take a minute. Just pause. Look through your materials," Thornton said.
Now she’s trying to figure out how she’s going to do right by her employees when payday arrives.
“With all the work that I'm already doing. I'm just still thinking about that. How do we make those funds up?” she asked.