Utility Scammer Poses as AUB Phone Rep
Media Contact:
Wayne Scarbrough
(423) 745-4501 ext. 6002
wscarbrough@aub.org
February 1, 2018
ATHENS — Local business proprietors and homeowners beware. AUB customers report that they have received calls saying their power was about to be turned off unless they made payments immediately, over the phone, or via money cards purchased at retail outlets.
An owner of a small business in Athens today received a call from (855) 886-9083 with the caller claiming to be an AUB collections agent and threatening to disconnect services. The caller ID read “Athens Utilities Board.”
“Luckily, the customer came to our offices at AUB to inquire. While she was sitting with one of our customer representatives going over her account, which was in good standing with no issues, her cell phone rang again, reading ‘Athens Utilities Board,’” said AUB’s Wayne Scarbrough.
Instead of the customer answering the call, she handed her the cell phone to the AUB representative.
The caller said her name was Ashley and that she was calling from the AUB collections department.
“Our customer service representative said, ‘That’s odd because I’m at AUB in customer service with our customer looking at her account and I don’t know who you are.’”
Scarbrough said it did not take long for the caller to hang up once she knew the jig was up.
A subsequent call to the same phone number two hours later was answered by a woman who claimed to be in the collections department of Nashville Electric Service. When pressed for details, the woman abruptly said, “Oh, I know who you are,” and hung up.
He said that AUB never makes such calls demanding immediate payment over the phone.
“Any phone payments to AUB are initiated by the customer calling the utility, not the other way around,” he said.
AUB recommends that if you get such a call, hang up and report it AUB and to local authorities. Not only could thieves collect money, they also could collect sensitive information used to steal an identity.
“For reassurance regarding your AUB account, call us at 745-4501 and ask for a customer service representative to review your account with you,” Scarbrough said
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