GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – To help protect customers from becoming victims of fraud, Wisconsin Public Service is teaming up with law enforcement agencies.
WPS shared a social media message Wednesday to warn customers of the dangers of suspicious utility calls.
“We’re having our law enforcement agencies and others share a simple social media message about the ways that customers can recognize a scam when it may be occurring,” said WPS Spokesman Matt Cullen.
Over the years, WPS customers have lost thousands of dollars to con artists.
“This can occur. It has happened in the past. But there are some very easy steps that they can take to make sure they can protect themselves and prevent themselves from falling victim to these types of scams,” Cullen said. “We may see a period where we don’t have many scam attempt reports, and then we might see a very sudden increase all at one time. That can happen any time throughout the year.”
Here are some of the red flags customers should watch out for:
- Pretend to be from WPS. They may even manipulate caller ID or use a recorded message that appears to be from WPS.
- Threaten to turn off a customer’s energy right away.
- Demand immediate payment, often with a prepaid debit card. In some cases, scammers may request unusual payment methods like Bitcoin. WPS will never do this.
“WPS does not conduct business in a threatening manner,” Cullen told WTAQ News. “The best step to take is to simply hang up. It’s not rude, it’s a safe step that customers can take…Call the number that’s on their WPS bill or that’s listed on our website. Our employees would be glad to talk with any customer and verify the status of their account so that they can know whether or not someone has potentially tried to reach out to them…Our employees would rather have customers hang up on them and then call us back to conduct business with us to make sure that they’re doing that safely.”
If you think you’ve received a fraudulent call, hang up.
You can also call WPS at 800-450-7260 if you are unsure if a call is legitimate. Customers who become a victim should contact their local law enforcement agency.
WPS is not disconnecting residential customers right now because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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