Water Utilities Fend Off Phone Scammers

Scammers are using the phone to target water utility customers across the country.

Utility companies “are warning their customers about a new con. Scammers are calling residents and impersonating utility staff, claiming to be collecting on late bills,” the Better Business Bureau, a nonprofit consumer protection organization, reported.

In California, the Santa Barbara Police Department alerted ratepayers of such a scam. “The Department says customers are contacted by phone and told they must immediately make a payment or their water service will be disconnected,” KSBY reported in May.

The City said it does not ask for money over the phone, and it puts disconnection notices in the mail. “Police say you should not provide financial information, including credit card or bank account numbers, over the phone to anyone claiming to be a utility employee,” the report said.

Cal Water has also alerted ratepayers about the scam. “If you receive such a call about your water bill and are unsure whether it is legitimate, please do not provide any credit card or personal information,” the utility told customers in May.

In North Carolina, Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority put customers on alert last month about phone scammers. These scammers also demanded payment, claiming service would be disconnected.

The utility “has been informed of three different cases that targeted its commercial customers, in which the person stated they were calling from either ‘your local water department,’ or ‘city utility,’” The Beaufort Gazette reported.

Method of payment may be a giveaway that a caller is a scammer, according to the Better Business Bureau. “Instead of accepting payment by credit card or check, the caller wants you to pay by prepaid debit card. The scammer instructs you to obtain a prepaid debit card and call him/her back,” the nonprofit said of the water utility scam.

To read more about the latest scams targeting water consumers, visit Water Online’s Consumer Outreach Solutions Center.