"It's very much a pressure campaign where they're trying to catch you off guard and get you concerned enough that you're going to be tricked into making a payment.”
Consumers Energy spokesperson Brian Wheeler says this week, scammers posing as utility employees are calling or emailing customers and non-customers, demanding immediate payment and threatening to shut off service.
“What scammers do is very much unlike how Consumers Energy and many other reputable companies behave. We don't call you and insist that you make immediate payment. We don't insist that you make payment via a certain type of method.”
Scammers pressure victims to pay using methods that are hard to trace, demanding store gift cards or prepaid debit cards.
The fake calls spoof company phone numbers appearing legitimate on caller ID as Consumers Energy.
“In some cases, they coach you to call an 800 number that prompts you to what you believe is actually Consumers Energy. They set up different numbers to be pressed to reach the customer representatives but really what they're trying to do is imitate what's a legitimate operation.”
Wheeler says if you are contacted, or if you made a payment and think you were the victim of a scam, contact Consumers Energy to report details.
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