July 17, 2008
What would you do if your utility company called and said it had not received payment, and that unless you could pay right now, it was shutting off service? Many people panic, pull out their credit card, and before they know it, they've been scammed.
"Our utilities never operate like that," said Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. "Don't be buffaloed into giving out your credit card account number, bank account, Social Security number, or other personal information. This scam appears to be hitting all over Iowa."
Miller says reports of the utility scam have been rolling in since April. MidAmerican and Alliant Energy report dozens of customers have received such calls.
Customers have provided their credit card or debit card numbers, and then discovered the call was a scam when they checked with the utility. Some gave credit card numbers to "pay" amounts in the range of $20 to over $200 to avoid threatened disconnection.
Miller said his office thinks the calls are coming from out of state, perhaps even from overseas or Canada, where many fraudulent telemarketers are based now. One Iowa consumer's card number apparently was used at a New York restaurant shortly after it was obtained through one of the calls.
In some instances, consumers reported the "caller I.D." of the scam calls indicated falsely that the call was from the utility company. "Caller-ID can be 'spoofed' or falsified," Miller said.
"Never give your key information when you did not place the call," he said. "The utility companies will not ask for your financial information like this. If someone raises a question about your utility account, look up the utility's regular number and call the
