Danville Utilities is warning its customers about a payment scam involving a threat to disconnect service if payment of their utility bill is not made immediately.
In this scam, a customer receives a phone call from an individual falsely claiming to be with the Utilities Department. The individual is threatening to disconnect service if the customer does not make immediate payment. The customer is asked to provide a credit card number in order to make payment.
“We have received four calls today from customers notifying us of this scam,” Philip Haley, director of customer accounts, said Thursday. “We do not make phone calls to customers about disconnects. Any notice of disconnection from us is done by mail.”
Businesses often are targets of utility bill payment scams, but Haley said households appear to be the targets of this scam.
Utility bill payment scams are not new. Guard against fraud. Never provide a Social Security number, credit card number or banking information to anyone requesting it unless you initiated the contact and know the identity of the person with whom you are speaking.
If you receive a call from someone you do not know and who is urging you to make a payment to Danville Utilities, capture the phone number and then hang up and contact the Division of Customer Accounts at 434-799-5125 or visit the Charles H. Harris Financial Service Center, which is located at 311 Memorial Drive.
