Utility Scams And Identity Theft

MoneyTips

You've received a phone call from a utility company demanding a payment right now or your utilities will be immediately shut off – or maybe representatives of your utility show up at your door to make the same threat. What do you do?

Don't pay them. It's almost certainly a scam.

Utility companies don't make threats requiring immediate payment to avoid shutoff. They will send at least one disconnection notice by mail and provide several payment options to avoid shutoff by a certain time. Electricity, gas, or water providers don't want to cut off your service – they just want you to make your payments.

Of course, if you ignore all late payment and disconnection notices, the utility provider will eventually cut you off – but that's only as a last resort.

Variations of this scam include unscheduled meter repairs, free energy audits without any appoin...

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