Scammers targeting business customers of Georgia Power Company

ATLANTA — Businesses in Georgia are being targeted by financial scammers pretending to be power company officials, the Georgia Attorney General’s Office warned Tuesday.

Attorney General Chris Carr’s office said in a telemarketing fraud scheme, scam artists are posing as representatives of Georgia Power Co. and are threatening to shut off businesses’ power unless an immediate payment is made. The scammer then provides a toll-free number to call to set up the payment.

If a customer dials the number given, a recording mimics the power company’s phone system, which state officials say increases the effectiveness of this scam. When the customer chooses the “billing” option from the automated menu, a live person comes on the line to assign a case number and gives instructions to send funds via a Green Dot MoneyPak prepaid card or a wire transfer.

Carr said consumers can avoid this type of scam by realizing that Georgia Power will never ask a customer for a pre-paid debit card, bank or credit card information over the phone. Anyone who gets a call of this nature should hang up and call Georgia Power directly at 1 (888) 660-5890 to verify, Carr said. A legitimate phone number for Georgia Power can also be obtained from a customer’s most recent billing statement.

Read more: http://www.albanyherald.com/news/local/scammers-targeting-business-customers-of-georgia-power-company/article_4154e1e1-ae51-57c8-9114-a8a39b1799cb.html