GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Wisconsin Public Service is asking customers to be cautious if they receive a phone call, demanding them to pay the false debt.
The utility company says since Wednesday, it has received more than 60 reports of callers claiming to be from WPS to fraudulently obtain money from customers.
WPS says the majority of the calls were reported from customers in the Crivitz and Wausau areas.
In some instances, the phone callers disguise their identity by playing a recording of the WPS customer service greeting on a callback number given to customers.
The utility says one customer admitted to falling victim and ended up paying hundreds of dollars.
The company assures customers WPS does not require prepaid cards to pay energy bills and do not use threatening tones with customers over the phone.
While customers are able to pay with prepaid cards, fraudulent callers often require the use of prepaid cards. Some callers will ask victims to purchase prepaid cards from stores.
WPS instructs its employees do not ask customers to do this.
To be safe, customers should never provide any banking, account or private information over the phone if they cannot verify the authenticity of the call.
If a customer receives a suspicious call, they should hang up right away and report the incident to WPS at 800-450-7260.
WPS will then verify the status of the customer’s account and determine if a legitimate employee contacted them.
