When it comes to phone scams, the City of Douglas Utility Department seems to be a good target for criminals. Officials announced today another ongoing occurrence of scammers going after city commercial customers under the guise of collecting payments.
According to City of Douglas representatives, the caller asks for an immediate payment through a 1-800 number to falsely solicit payment that is not owed to the City of Douglas.
Although the City of Douglas does use an automated phone system to contact customers with delinquent payment, the message does not ask for payment over the phone.
The City of Douglas also contracts with a third party company in an attempt to collect bad debt.
The City of Douglas submits a list of customers, who have already had their utility services disconnected, to a thirtd party agency. This third party agency makes contact with customers over the telephone and often by mail. Citizens should also know that this third party company does not ask you to make a payment using a 1-800 number.
Customers can take further steps to confirm if the call is a scam or not by calling the City of Douglas 311 Customer Care Center by dialing 311 or 384-3302.
City Manager Terrell Jacobs states, “If a citizen should receive such a call, please try to capture the phone number through caller id and report the phone number to the Customer Care Center representative. If the number is found to be illegitimate, the representative will report the number to the police. Our advice is not to meet anyone who has called you to collect a utility debt unless you know definitely the call came from Douglas City Hall.”
Other tips offered by the Douglas Police Department would be not to give out financial information over the telephone unless the caller has been verified as a legitimate company and to never wire money to someone or to an online agency that you are unfamiliar with.
“We do not want our citizens to become victims of a scam,” says Douglas Police Chief Gary Casteloes. “Citizens should always be cautious of anyone who contacts you asking for financial records and remember to verify the agency as legitimate.”