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Alliant Energy warns of increase of scams

CEDAR RAPIDS – Alliant Energy, which serves most of the North Iowa area’s energy needs, is  warning of an increase of scams and offered tips to protect yourself.

Alliant Energy says that in the last few months, there has been an increase in scammers contacting customers and impersonating Alliant Energy employees, mostly over the phone. Here’s what you should know.

Never:

  •  We will never ask you to purchase prepaid credit cards to avoid disconnection.
  • We will never ask for payment or personal information over email.
  • We will never ask for money when we visit a residence or business.

Always:

  •  We will always be able to confirm your account address, current bill amount and balance due over the phone.
  • We will always provide past-due notification in writing before service is shut off.
  • Beware of disconnection threat scams

The biggest scam uses the threat of disconnection to convince customers to purchase prepaid credit cards (or Green Dot cards) and then provide that information over the phone. Other scams request payment by email. They often threaten to disconnect service in the next hour or two.

If you receive a call like this, hang up and call us! Our official phone number is 1-800-ALLIANT (800-255-4268). Some scammers may provide a different phone number that sounds like our answering system. Only use our 1-800-ALLIANT phone number.

On the phone

When our service representatives request payment on a past-due bill, we ask customers to use secure payment processes. If someone calls about your payment, take out your most recent Alliant Energy bill – or check My Account online – and ask the caller to tell you the account number and the amount due.

You can also ask the caller to provide the account address, current bill amount and past-due balance.

If the caller cannot provide that information, it isn’t us.

If you’re not sure who the caller is, hang up and call us at 1-800-ALLIANT. When you call Alliant Energy, our employees will always be able to provide account information and the exact balance due. When customers are behind on payment, we provide past-due notification in writing before service is shut off for not making a payment.

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