ST. GEORGE — Police are warning citizens to be aware of a telephone scam circulating in Southern Utah.
Hurricane Police issued an advisory Monday about a fraud involving scammers posing as city utility workers demanding money for late payments.
“The scammer will call and say your utility bill is overdue and you must make a payment immediately over the phone or risk utility shut off or additional late charges,” the advisory reads.
Police say anyone demanding payment in such a fashion is likely a scammer.
While cities in Southern Utah have different policies regarding informing customers of past-due payments, none will demand money outright.
Information about how St. George, Hurricane and Washington City deal with late payments is listed below.
St. George
The St. George Utilities Department never calls customers demanding payment.
Notices will be mailed over a period of three months, finally culminating with a pink notice of impending shutoff posted at the delinquent residence.
Customer service representatives will only call one week before services are disconnected and give the option to pay over the phone with no demands for payment.
Hurricane
Hurricane City does not call customers regarding late utilities payments. Instead, notices are always issued by letter in the mail.
Hurricane Police advise anyone who receives a suspicious phone call to report the call to police at 435-627-4999.
Washington City
Washington City Utilities always sends notices of past-due payments by mail. When possible, city employees will make courtesy calls notifying customers of late payments, but they never demand payment over the phone.
A representative from the department told St. George News that some scammers have occasionally been so bold as to knock on customers’ doors asking for payment, which the city would never do.
If this happens, the city advises customers to immediately close the door and call 911 to report the fraud.
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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.
I’m so thankful to St. George News for this article! This is just another way of human scum seeking drug money and/or getting out of honorable work…
Hang up on the losers ASAP! Keep your door locked while talking to them through it, and tell them you’re calling 911… Look out for the elderly and your neighbors… Unless they change, these individuals will someday, somehow, be punished by an angry God. That will be a awful, horrible time for the wicked.
Liberals especially need to watch out for these scams since they are more gullible. Before you get upset by this comment, I have proof. They voted for Hillary. Enough said!