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SCAM ALERT:
CenterPoint Energy and BBB warn customers about local phone scam
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Evansville, Ind. – Jan. 15, 2021 – CenterPoint Energy and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) are warning the public about a phone scam where customers receive a robocall claiming to be from the utility, threatening local residents that power will be disconnected unless a mandatory fee is paid.
CenterPoint Energy and the BBB have been notified of multiple reports of customers receiving this scam call. A customer who received the scam robocall detailed that the recording warned her that her electric service would be interrupted in 45-60 minutes. She was connected to a live caller who asked her to verify her address. The caller then insisted the customer had a past due balance of three months. After the customer verified her account status on her CenterPoint Energy online account and told the scammer his information was incorrect, he became hostile – a tactic used to intimidate the customer. The customer, recognizing it was a scam, disconnected the call.
“CenterPoint Energy does not demand payments over the phone in order to keep the customer’s service on,” said Steve Greenley, Senior Vice President of Generation Development at CenterPoint Energy. “We’re urging any customer who is approached for such payments to contact the company immediately to verify and discuss their account status.”
If you receive a similar phone call, CenterPoint Energy and the BBB suggest the following to protect yourself and your information:
- Hang up and call CenterPoint Energy at 1-800-227-1376 or check your account online at Vectren.com to verify your account status. Customers with actual delinquent accounts receive an advance notification included within the regular monthly billing – not a single notification right before disconnection.
- Don’t give personal or financial information if you don’t know the caller and/or can’t verify the legitimacy of their request.
- Contact Vectren directly to make payments online, by phone, via automatic bank draft, by mail or at an authorized pay site.
- Report the scam to www.bbb.org/ScamTracker and let your friends and family know about this scam.
If you believe you’ve been victimized by this scam and sent money to a scammer, contact your bank as soon as possible and consider placing a freeze on your accounts.
For related information, visit bbb.org/Evansville or call the BBB office at (812) 473-0202.
About CenterPoint Energy
As the only investor-owned electric and gas utility based in Texas, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is an energy delivery company with electric transmission and distribution, power generation and natural gas distribution operations that serve more than 7 million metered customers in Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas. As of September 30, 2020, the company owned approximately $33 billion in assets and also owned 53.7 percent of the common units representing limited partner interests in Enable Midstream Partners, LP, a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops strategically located natural gas and crude oil infrastructure assets. With approximately 9,600 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.
ABOUT BBB
For more than 100 years, Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands, and charities they can trust. In 2015, people turned to BBB more than 172 million times for BBB Business profiles on more than 5.3 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at bbb.org. The Council of Better Business Bureaus is the umbrella organization for the local, independent BBBs in the United States, Canada and Mexico, as well as home to its national and international programs on dispute resolution, advertising review, and industry self-regulation.
Reporters: For more information or to schedule an interview with a local BBB spokesperson, contact Oana Schneider at 812-303 9716 or email oschneider@evansville.bbb.org.
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