Tucson Electric Power Co. is issuing a new warning about phone scams aimed at its customers, after reports of such calls doubled in a month.
In the typical scam, callers claim to work for TEP and threaten to disconnect service for unpaid bills or damaged electric meters that need to be replaced for safety reasons.
Customers are pressured to make payments over the phone with a pre-paid money card within a short period of time to avoid a shut-off, TEP said.
In February, about 225 residential and commercial customers reported being targeted by phone scammers, about twice the number reported in January.
- TEP advises customers to simply hang up the phone if they receive such calls. Customers with any concerns or questions about their accounts should call TEP’s customer-service line 520-623-7711.
- Customers who receive fraudulent phone calls or texts also are encouraged to contact the Arizona Attorney General’s Tucson office at (520) 628-6504 or to file a consumer complaint at azag.gov.
- TEP has a consumer-safety web page explaining how customers can protect themselves from scams at www.tep.com/news/phone-scam.
- Scammers have targeted utility customers across North America, prompting TEP and other utilities to participate in a consumer awareness campaign called Utilities United Against Scams (www.utilitiesunited.org)
