New scam tied to late trash pickup fees circulating

METRO DETROIT — A new scam demanding outstanding payment for Green For Life (GFL) trash services has been circulating around several Oakland County communities.

Thieves are reportedly contacting residents in various municipalities — including Bloomfield Township and Rochester Hills — demanding payment for services provided by GFL.

Both municipalities — which now use Priority Waste for trash services — discontinued their contracts with GFL in the summer of 2023.

“GFL isn’t doing any residential business in metro Detroit anymore,” Bloomfield Township Public Works Director Noah Mehalski said.

The scammers, according to officials, attempt to establish contact via text or email with the subject, “Avoid Late Payment.”

In Bloomfield Township, Mehalski said multiple residents have reported being contacted.

“It appears to be an email with the GFL logo on the front and then it says there’s a significant amount of money due — which is well above our (Priority Waste) charge of $55 a quarter. A couple of them that I’ve seen were like $2,000 charges,” he explained.

Residents are reportedly receiving bogus outstanding bill amounts requesting anywhere between $500-$2,000 via email.

Heather Glowacz, an officer with the Bloomfield Township Police Department, said residents should be very cautious whenever they get emails that have links and to always be suspicious of them. She said any requests for payment from GFL should immediately be flagged as suspicious. Residents are urged not to open any email correspondence from GFL, not to respond to text messages and not to click on any links, specifically, one titled “Pay My Bill.”

“If you ever get something like that, I would contact the company directly using a phone number you look up separately from the one listed on the email,” she said. “Don’t ever use contact information from the emails you get because they could put fake numbers on there that they will make look real if you call.”

At press time, there were no reports of any Bloomfield Township residents falling victim to the scam, but some did report that they were contacted.

“The reports that I got from residents said they knew that GFL was not their waste hauler, they just wanted to just make us aware so that we could cast a wide net and let everybody else know,” Mehalski said.

“This kind of thing is probably bigger than just us, so it is determining size, scale and scope at this point. Anything that allows us to go after the people,” Mehalski said.

Residents in Rochester Hills also reported the scam, prompting the city to release an alert on social media urging residents to beware.

“Some of our residents have been reaching out, curious as to what was going on, knowing that GFL is no longer our provider,” said Rochester Hills spokesman Nathan Mueller. “We didn’t have a ton of people reach out, but truly you never know. Trash is one of those things that you hope that it gets picked up, but you don’t always necessarily know who your provider is. That’s what the scams try to prey on.”

City officials are asking Rochester Hills residents to be very vigilant when it comes to any email asking for payment.

“Typically, places are not going to ask for payment via email, and if they do, maybe you should reach out,” Mueller said. “If you have questions, reach out and call somebody, call us here at the city, call Priority Waste.”

A disclaimer on Priority Waste’s website, said the company is aware of the scam and reminded residents that official communications from Priority would come from an @PriorityWaste.com email address.

“Priority Waste is our provider, so that’s the only entity — in terms of trash service — that should be communicating with residents for any type of bill. If you get something from anyone else, ignore it and delete it,” Mueller added.

To report fraudulent activity, contact the Blomfield Township Police at (248) 433-7755, or the Rochester Hills substation of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office at (248) 858-4950.