Maybe it's a hoax, but it could be real. I have know folks as oblivious as she appears. Sometimes family...
Years ago, I worked at an energy provider and heard all about the customer that called up at least once a month to complain. Her frantic gripe: electricity was seeping out of the wall sockets and into the air. Sometimes it made batteries go dead or light bulbs stop working. She was completely serious. Every time she called, the utility company dutifully sent out a crew to investigate (mostly to check up on her and make sure she was okay). The crews kept spare batteries and lightbulbs to replace the ones that went dead when they visited. It was interesting and sad to read through pages of notes with CSRs and technicians gently trying to explain how things worked and calm her down. The poor woman was slow, old, lonely, and just didn't understand rudimentary things. The company had tried to get social services to help her, but nothing ever seemed to come of it. I doubt she would have been taken care of as well but a large company today, but the calls started when the utility was more like family - everyone knew of her and knew to treat her with kindness.