FAIRBORN — AES Ohio is warning people about utility scams involving people pretending to be from AES. They offer people a chance to lower their utility bill.
>>ORIGINAL STORY: AES Ohio issues warning about utility scams
News Center 7′s John Bedell has a warning from one Fairborn man who shared his experience after getting visit from a scammer and the red flags AES says you need to look out for.
Alex Nozar said it started with a knock on the door at his Fairborn apartment.
“Tells me he’s with an electric company,” he said. “But I don’t think he specified where he was with.”
Nozar tells Bedell the guy asked him about his electric bill.
“Asked me to give him an idea of what the rate was and what I paid and I told him,” he explained. “I had the bill pulled up on my phone but I never actually showed him the account information.”
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Bedell says Nozar’s gut was right.
AES Ohio says it has gotten a number of customer complaints about being scammed by identity theft and credit card schemes.
“Scams are a nationwide problem, they affect all industries,” said Mary Ann Kabel, AES Ohio Director of Corporate Communications. “And they’re also impacting the utilities.”
A company spokesperson told News Center 7 there are a few things to look for to protect your information and money.
“Number one for the utility specifically as Ohio, we would never call a customer without knowing all their information, such as their account number and specifics on their account,” Kabel told Bedell. “So that’s your first sign if they start asking you for that information.”
AES also says employees have an I-D badge and you can ask to see it if it’s not obvious.
“There was no way I was actually going to do anything with him,” said Nozar.
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Bedell says Nozar is now sharing his story hoping to help others.
“If they’re still out there preying on people, maybe they’ll see this and realize if someone’s coming to their house asking for changing their electric company, maybe they’ll think twice about it before they do it,” he said. “Because nobody’s going to ask them to do that.”
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