According to a post on the City of Burlington Facebook earlier today, phone scammers are trying to intimidate people into paying a fake WE Energies bill with pre-paid debit cards.
The post said that the police department had received two calls from downtown business owners who had received fraudulent calls. The callers claimed the businesses were behind on electric bills and needed to pay immediately. The following is what WE Energies put out in response to the scam
Phone Scam Alert
Using a service disconnection threat, scammers try to convince you to purchase prepaid debit cards and provide the card information to them. How it works:
• Caller claims to be from We Energies. Some scammers provide a fake ID number and may use software to display our company name on your phone. Sometimes they use a recording of our greeting to sound legitimate.
• Caller claims you are behind on bill payment or have a malfunctioning meter that you must replace, adding that the cost is rebated after installation.
• Caller tells you to go to a nearby store — often Walmart, Walgreens or CVS — to buy a pre-paid Visa debit card, sometimes referred to as a Green Dot card or MoneyPak card.
• Caller tells you an exact amount for the card, makes the request urgent and threatens disconnection.
• Caller provides a phone number to call to provide the card’s numbers. Your money goes to the scammer, and we do not reimburse for such losses.
Scammers are sophisticated. Using online databases, they know your name and address, and claim to have additional information about your account. Don’t be fooled. Call us anytime at 800-242-9137 to:
• Determine if you received a scam
• Check on account status
• Verify payment history
The scammers also are intimidating. If you do not cooperate, they apply more pressure by implying that if you do not act quickly, your power may be off for days. They will say anything to frighten you.
We do not solicit payment from customers in a threatening manner. If you get a call that sounds suspicious, hang up immediately and call us. If you act quickly, you may be able to request a refund if the scammer has not yet cashed the pre-paid card. MoneyPak, the company that issues the Green Dot cards, has an online tool that allows you to request a refund.
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