APS in Phoenix is warning customers of fake callers claiming to be a representative from Arizona Public Service (APS), asking for customers to pay accounts immediately over the phone.
In the last year, more than 300 cases of fake APS customer service scams have been reported to the company. One customer, Matt Allen, the owner of Virginia Auto Service on the corner of 7th Street and Virginia Avenue in downtown Phoenix, received a strange call from someone he thought was with APS on Monday. The fake representative told him that his service would be disconnected, and he had to pay up as soon as possible. “I know I pay my bills on time so something just didn’t seem right,” said Allen. “So I thought, ‘It’s always possible,’ so I went along with it for a minute.” After they asked for his bank account number, he knew something was wrong. He hung up and reported it to APS. “Immediately as I said what was going on, they recognized it was a scam going around,” said Allen.
According to APS, there have been around 350 cases of similar APS scams so far this year. “We don’t contact customers via phone or in person to ask them for banking information on a delinquent bill. We just don’t contact people that way,” said APS spokesperson Jordan Karem.
APS says they will only contact a person with a delinquent bill via text message, door hanger on your door knob, a letter, or an insert in your next bill.
In the event that you do get a call from someone claiming to be with APS, hang up immediately and report it.
