It is National Scam Awareness Week, an advocacy and
awareness campaign focused on educating customers and exposing the tactics used
by scammers, and Kentucky Utilities is advising its customers to be aware of
these signs of potential scam activity.
Scammers may aggressively tell the customer his or her
utility bill is past due and service will be disconnected if a payment is not
made – usually within less than an hour.
Scammers may instruct the customer to purchase a prepaid card – widely
available at retail stores – then call them back supposedly to make a bill
payment to his or her utility company. They may also instruct customers to use
a gift card or a form of cryptocurrency. When the customer calls back, the
caller asks the customer for the prepaid card or gift card number, which grants
the scammer instant access to the card’s funds, and the victim’s money is gone.
This year’s theme is ‘It Happened to Me, Don’t Let It Happen
to You.’