Rocky Mountain Power is warning customers in the Casper area to be wary of callers claiming the company is about to disconnect their electricity.
Company spokesman David Eskelsen told Cowboy State Daily on Monday that there has been an uptick in scam phone calls in the Casper area this month where callers pretend to be a staffer from the “Rocky Mountain Power disconnection department.”
Rocky Mountain Power has no “disconnection department.”
“These things come and go in spates,” Eskelsen said. “Around the beginning of the month, we had a number of these calls in the Casper area, and we’ve been getting more reports about the calls again in the last few days.”
The caller will insist the customer is behind on their bill and threatens to disconnect service unless a payment is made immediately.
Lately, the calls have been targeting both business customers and those who do not speak fluent English, Eskelsen said. Some scammers will tell the victim to get a prepaid credit card and share the code with them, while others will ask the customer for credit card information.
One victim was even asked to meet the scammer at a specific location.
Eskelsen noted that the company would never call a customer and threaten immediate disconnection to their service.
“The important thing to remember is that disconnection for any payment problems is a very deliberate process,” he said. “We usually give 30 and 60 days’ notice through a customer’s bill, but we also make substantial attempts to contact a customer. We have a specific dialogue over any kind of payment issues and we offer resources to help customers if they fall behind.”
Eskelsen said anyone receiving such a call should immediately hang up and call the Rocky Mountain Power customer service line, 1-888-221-7070, to find out more information.
