AUB ADVISES: BEWARE OF
ENERGY-AUDIT SCAMS

ATHENS, Tenn. - Athens Utilities Board (AUB) is advising Athens area residents and business owners to be on the lookout for scam artists posing as energy advisors.

AUB spokesman Wayne Scarbrough said that customers have called the utility reporting that two men in a white truck have gone door-to-door asking to enter homes to conduct energy surveys and promising to save the residents money on their utility bill.

Scarbrough said that this is strikingly similar to methods used last August in west Tennessee. “In Bolivar, Tenn., two men conducted very similar visits to several area residents and then ended up robbing them of several thousand dollars worth of money and property,” Scarbrough said.

The men ask to measure rooms, check basements, closets, and windows, and then promise to call the homeowner in two to three weeks. However, the men leave behind no business card and no literature indicating how to contact the company they purportedly represent.

Scarbrough said this should be a red flag. “Typically, if a legitimate company wants to sell you a service they will leave behind ample material with contact information so that a potential customer can call the company,” he said. He added that AUB does not intend to hinder the operation of any legitimate company but, rather, wants to help raise awareness among area residents of the potential for scams.

In Bolivar, Scarbrough said, the homeowner was kept busy in one room by one of the men inspecting windows or discussing utilities while the second man took cash and valuables from other rooms. Other times, scam artists simply want to see if the homeowner has unsecured valuables such as jewelry, guns or cash, or if they have an alarm system, a dog, others living in the house, or easy-access windows and doors. When they get the information they want, they leave, but could return days, weeks or months later to rob the home.

AUB never makes unsolicited home visits for energy audits. AUB’s staff energy auditor sets appointments by customer request and is always in a marked AUB vehicle and uniform.