Carson City sheriff warns of utility scammers calling customers
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Tue, 09/10/2013 - 10:23am
Southwest Gas and NV Energy customers are being targeted again by scammers calling and asking for personal information about their accounts and bills, Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said.
Typically people are calling homes and businesses and identifying themselves as being with the utility company and asking for information about their power and in some cases, threatening to shut off the utility if a payment isn't made through a credit card or a cash transfer.
Furlong said the sheriff's office has gotten several complaints recently about the phone calls. He said none of the callers were taken in by the scam. He further stated that he was going to contact NV Energy and Southwest Gas and ask that they put a notice about the scammers on their billing so the public can be aware.
"The scams being detected today involve utility companies that are usually designed to get to your account and password information. People should verify who they are speaking with before giving information," said Furlong.
NV Energy does not call customers and solicit payments. If a customer receives such a call, they should refuse and call the sheriff's office or NV Energy.
Earlier this year Southwest Gas sent a warning to customers noting that people posing as employees were making personal contact with customers asking about their service. Southwest Gas emphasizes that employees always wear a company uniform, display Southwest Gas identification cards, usually only come to a home and enter when service is requested at the customers request and identify themselves and the purpose of their visit.
