‘Tis the season for scams.
Scams often pop up during the holidays, and the Board of Public Utilities is warning customers to beware of telephone scams.
According to David Mehlhaff, spokesman for the BPU, scammers may call, pretending to be from the utility, and could threaten customers with disconnection if they don’t pay them immediately. Sometimes the scammer demands payment in gift cards.
Mehlhaff said the scams often get worse during the holidays.
The BPU doesn’t call the customer and threaten to disconnect them immediately if they don’t pay something, he said. Instead, the BPU will send out a “past due” bill, then a disconnection notice, and a courtesy robo call, he said.
But the BPU doesn’t call up as a person and tell the customer to make an immediate payment or the electricity will be shut off, he said.
For the six years the scams have been going on, there has only been one BPU customer he knows of who has been tricked into sending money to a scammer, he said.
The BPU has been reminding people not to fall for scams for several years, and most people know if they are behind on their utility payments, he added.
People who have questions about their bills may call the BPU customer service department at 913-573-9190.
Mehlhaff added some other important safety tips to keep in mind:
- Never give credit card, debit card, Social Security, ATM, checking or
savings account numbers to anyone who comes to your home, calls,
texts and/or sends an email requesting this information in respect to
your utility bill, without verifying that person is with BPU by either
asking to see company identification or by calling BPU’s Customer
Service Department. - Be suspicious if you receive an email regarding your utility bill if you
have not requested online communications from BPU. - For customers using BPU’s online bill pay system, always make online
payments directly through bpu.com. - Never provide personal information via email or click on any
suspicious links.