LOS ANGELES (AP) — Customers of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power are being targeted by a telephone scam in which they are told they must pay their utility bill with a pre-paid cash card or their service will be cut off immediately.
The Police Department and the DWP said Wednesday that there's been an increase in the frequency of telephone scam reports in recent months.
The scheme involves callers telling utility customers they are behind in payments and threaten to terminate service. Police say the scammer provides a phone number and instructs the customer to purchase a pre-paid cash card for a fictional balance, then collects the card information.
DWP employees do not phone customers and verbally ask for payment. Customers can only make payments by phone over an automated system.
©2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
