(Undated) -- Nebraska Public Power District is reporting an uptick in scam activity.
NPPD says over the weekend, and into the start of the week, they've seen an increase in scammers posing as utility employees in attempt to steal money from customers. NPPD says scammers will either text or call a customer and tell them that they must pay their bill immediately or their power will be shut-off. They say if the customer pays a scammer using a green dot card, or other method such as wire transfer or gift cards, it makes it very difficult to track or recover the money. “NPPD will not call a customer and threaten to shut off their power,” says NPPD General Manager of Retail Services Pat Hanrahan. “Scammers will try to confuse or cause panic in order to get what they want, and it’s important for customers to know this is not how NPPD conducts business." NPPD says if a customer is having trouble paying their bills, they encourage customers to reach out to the utility.
Scammers will sometimes spoof their real phone number to make it appear as an NPPD number when they are making calls. They will then ask the customer to call them back using a different number to make the payments. NPPD will not call or text a customer and demand payment or threaten to shut off a customer’s power. If you believe you are a target of a potential scam or are unsure if you are talking to someone from NPPD, hang up the phone and call 1-877-ASK-NPPD.
More tips and a video on scam activity can be found here.