GREENSBORO, NC --Got a phone call?
They're threatening to cut off your power,your water or your heat unless you pay right now….with a gift card. That's a red flag for sure. Utility companies will notify you by mail.
In fact, Jared Lawrence of Duke Energy says, “The first thing they do is come up with some sort of reason the payment didn't process. There’s a problem with the bank or they never received it.”
Computers glitch, mail is lost, you might think this call could actually be real. The scammers even go one step further to make it seem real, but in the end, there’s that red flag.
“Sometimes they'll say you can go to your local utility office and the office is 40 miles away because they're on Google maps and so then they offer up the pre-paid card as a more convenient option.”
What you just heard about is the most common utility scam, but there are several others. Including the one where you overpay! Don’t get taken. Several hundred utility companies have banned together to create the United Utilities Against Scams. Check out their resources.