DAYTON — CenterPoint Energy is warning its customers of reported increases in door-to-door, phone call and text message scams, in a media release Thursday.
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There are reports of individuals impersonating CenterPoint Energy and using various tactics, including requests to check electric meters at customers’ homes and spoofing company phone numbers to threaten service disconnection, the release said.
“We encourage customers to remain on high alert as we continue to see utility scams on the rise across our service territories,” said Ashley Babcock, Vice President, Indiana and Ohio Gas. “Any customer who is approached with what they believe to be scam should report the incident to CenterPoint Energy through our online Customer service form.”
CenterPoint Energy is reminding its customers that will it never call and demand payment over the phone to avoid immediate disconnection.
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The company says it will never ask customers to make payments with a pre-paid debit card, gift card, any form of cryptocurrency or third-party digital payment mobile applications. Technicians and contractors will have a CenterPoint Energy badge to display when performing work, the release said.
The company says it continues to mitigate the risk of scam calls even though scammers can spoof CenterPoint Energy’s phone numbers. If a customer receives a call to a mobile device, it can be consider a scam call and should hang up immediately, the company said.
CenterPoint Energy says customers can call customer to verify their account status and should not send money until their account status has been verified.
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