KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri, police on Monday said it had received numerous reports over the last few days of scammers claiming to be with power company Evergy.
According to police, the scammer tells the person that their utility bill is unpaid and their power will be shut off. The scammer may leave a message directing the person to call a 1-800 number, which asks for a prepaid card for payment, police said.
“No legit utility/government/business will ever ask for a prepaid card to ‘clear up’ issues with payment,” Kansas City police said in a tweet. “Hang up if you get this call, or mess with them if you have the time, we don’t care. Just don’t fall for it.”
SCAM ALERT: We've had numerous reports last few days of scammers claiming they're from @evergypower & that your bill is unpaid so power will be shut off. They may leave a message directing you to call a 1-800 number that sounds legit, but then they ask for a prepaid card.
— Kansas City Police (@kcpolice) February 10, 2020
According to Evergy, the company will never ask a customer to purchase a prepaid debit card as payment for service. Other signs of potential scams include a threat to disconnect and requests for immediate payment.
The company says that to avoid being scammed, people should not assume the information on caller ID is always accurate; should not give out personal or financial information over the phone unless they know for certain who they’re dealing with; and should not hesitate to hang up and contact Evergy directly for more details.
