The calls come out of nowhere, and they’re as convincing as they are unexpected.
The caller ID reads “Clark Public Utilities” and the number is local. The phone is still ringing, yet the scam is already off to a convincing start.
The person on the other end of the line puts up a good act pretending to be a utility employee. The script varies, depending on the time of year and the customers targeted, but it always comes down to one thing: they want to steal your money.
They’ll verify some personal information, all of which is publicly available, or ask for it in a way that sounds like they already know it.
Once they gain your trust, they demand you pay an outstanding balance on your energy bill right away. Fail to do so and they’ll shut off your electricity in moments, they claim.
Scammers tailor their ploys to the victims they’re targeting. No matter the target, every approach is designed to be disorienting, embarrassing and urgent.
They’ll say newly relocated customers are late on a deposit. They’ll call a business during peak hours and claim they’re a couple months behind on their bills and need to pay or else lose power that instant. They tell residential customers that previous payments weren’t received or never made, and the only way to make it right is by paying with a gift card or prepaid debit card.
Those customers are told to go to a store to purchase the card, then call a specific phone number to make the…
