ACE Power has received several calls from concerned members that claim to have received a phone call from a scam artist claiming to be an agent of ACE Power.
The most recent scam involves the scam artist, who represents him/herself as an agent of ACE Power, calling members to let them know that they owe ACE varying amounts of money in order to prevent the disconnection of electric service. The recommended payment method is either a debit card or a prepaid debit card. In all of the reported instances, the phone number that appears on caller id is from either California or Utah. However, it is quite possible that the scam artist is not even located in the United States.
Scams like this are nothing new to the utility industry. Electric Power Associations in Mississippi, however, have seen a recent rise in these phone scams. The scammers target rural areas served by a sole electric power distributor.
Consumers should be aware of these types of scams and take precautions to ensure that their banking and/or credit card information is protected.
ACE Power representatives will never contact its members by phone demanding a payment be made over the phone in order to avoid the disconnection of electric services. If you get one of these phone calls, hang up immediately and do not give out any of your personal information. If you are making a payment over the phone, make sure to use ACE Power’s published phone number, (662) 287-4402, option 1, for our automated payment system.
Update 7/6/2016 (1:00pm): Scammers seem to be targeting commercial businesses by using the phone number published in the Yellow Pages. Members have also reported that the scammers are saying that the bank has reversed their payment and they must make a new payment right now in order to avoid disconnection.