People in Middle Georgia warned of utility bill scam
Shonti Tager
Story Created:
Jul 13, 2012 at 6:54 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Jul 13, 2012 at 9:17 PM EDT
Gray utility company Tri-County Electric Membership Corporation is warning it's clients and other people in Middle Georgia about a new scam hitting utility customers across the country.
Tri-County EMC Spokesperson Kim Bonner says scammers are soliciting people to sign up for a phony government program that promises to pay up to $1,000 in utility payments.
Victims of the scam are registered into the program by providing private information, including, social security numbers and checking account numbers. They are then given a routing number to a bank account to send their utility payments.
Once the payments are sent the scammers take the money, and the victims don't realize they've been had until the utility company contacts them about a non-payment.
Bonner says the scammers have been reported to solicit the phony program through fliers, Facebook advertisements, text messages, and even in person.
"People just need to know about the scam, it's happening nation wide, and if you get contacted by someone saying it's a federal program, you're more likely to do it because it's backed by the government, but we need to make you know that this is an actual scam, and we don't want any of our members to be affected by this scam," Bonner said.
Tri-County EMC serves more than 21,000 accounts in eight Middle Georgia counties, but so far none of their clients have reported falling victim to the scam.
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