GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Past due WPS customers could soon be seeing notices in the mail about the end of the moratorium on utility disconnections. Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission ended the moratorium on utility disconnections on July 15th.
“Utility companies could start sending out notices to their past due customers starting on that day, and then you have to give them 10 days before you actually disconnect,” says Susan Bach of the Better Business Bureau, “The first opportunity for disconnection will be July 25th. So between now and then, we expect that scammers will take advantage of this window of opportunity.”
People who are behind on payments to WPS should already know where they stand on payments.
“You should have received multiple notices from them that you were past due. If you get a random call out of the blue saying that your utilities are going to be disconnected, that’s probably a scam,” Bach tells WTAQ News, “With the pandemic and so many people on this moratorium, we feel that this is an extra opportunity for scammers to trick people into paying those past due bills.”
Red flags for potential scammers are common, and should be fairly easy to detect. They will often offer to “help” with bills by offering a discount, as long as you send something like a pre-paid card.
“They’re never going to ask you for payment in a gift card. So that’s the first red flag,” Bach says, “If they are reaching out to you, they’re going to ask for your name or the person whose name is on the account. If they don’t know that, again, it’s also probably a scammer…Ask ‘who are you calling? what’s the name of the person on the account?’ – Those are all really good questions.”
If you receive a suspicious call, report it to your local utility company. They will be interested to know that impersonators are out there, and could send out an alert to notify other customers or potential victims.
If you lost money, report that to your local law enforcement agency.
For those who are behind on utility payments, Bach recommends reaching out to your utility company. Many of them will work with customers on a payment plan – and there are several different loans and energy assistance programs available across the state.
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