It is National Consumer Protection Week.
NorthWestern Energy director of customer interaction John Thurmond says their Customer Service Representatives receive calls every week from customers reporting scam activity.
In 2018, Utilities United Against Scams and its member companies helped to shut down more than 2,000 toll-free numbers used by scammers to target utility customers.
Thurmond says they report the call back number and the carrier is notified. He says there’s an investigation and if the number is being used for fraud, it’s shut down.
Signs of Potential Scam Activity:
• Threat to disconnect: Scammers may aggressively tell a customer his or her utility bill is past due and service will be disconnected if a payment is not made – usually within less than an hour. Utility companies never send a single notification one hour or less before disconnection. If someone threatens immediate disconnection or shutoff of service, customers should hang up the phone, delete the email, shut the door and contact your utility company directly.
• Request for immediate payment: Scammers may instruct a customer to purchase a prepaid card then call them back supposedly to make a bill payment to his or her utility company. Customers should never purchase a prepaid card to avoid service disconnection or shutoff.
• Request for prepaid card: When the customer calls back, the caller asks the customer for the prepaid card’s number, which grants the scammer instant access to the card’s funds and the victim’s money is gone. Customers should never purchase a prepaid card to avoid service disconnection or shutoff.
Customers who suspect fraud should contact local law enforcement or the South Dakota Attorney General Consumer Protection Division hotline, 1-800-300-1986, or email consumerhelp@state.sd.us.
