PINEVILLE, La. (KALB) - Cleco Power is reminding its customers about utility scams and how to avoid falling victim.
Cleco marks November 19 as “Utility Scam Awareness Day” - a day to remind everyone of the dangers of utility scams.
Scammers can pose as a Cleco representative and claim that customers owe them money or claim that a payment is due. Most times, scammers are looking to get personal information from customers and can come from emails, text messages or phone calls.
For scam calls, one Cleco representative explained why it’s important to contact their call center to make sure any requests or calls are legitimate.
“Sometimes a scammer will mask their number to appear that they are Cleco calling you,” said Colie Plaster, communications representative for Cleco. “But it’s important if you’re suspicious at any point at all, if they’re trying to urge you to make a quick payment or make a rush decision, to hang up and not dial that number back, but call directly to the number.”
Scams are happening locally here in Cenla, but they don’t have a specific number to look out for. Cleco just wants customers to be aware. If you’re suspicious at all, Plaster said to stop, talk to a friend or family first, and reach out to Cleco.
Plaster added that the most common scams Cleco sees are disconnection deceptions.
“People claiming ‘If you don’t pay right now, we’re going to cut your power off.’ That’s something that Cleco will never do without working with you,” said Plaster. “Overpayment; some scammer telling you, ‘Hey, you’ve overpaid. We need to refund your money back.’ There’s a process and procedure for that. They’ll ask for your bank account information, identifying information. That’s not something that Cleco will do.”
Customers can call Cleco’s call center number by dialing 1-800-622-6537. Plaster said calling that number will direct customers to someone who can help, who knows the issue, and who is a legitimate customer service representative.
“The ones you want to worry about the most probably are the phone calls,” Plaster said. “I think we’re all getting those and saying, you know, ‘Who is this calling me?’ It’s people posing to be Cleco, illegitimately claiming that you owe them money, that there’s a payment overdue, and they’re really trying to get personal information from you,” Plaster said. “One of the best things about the phone calls is that if you get a call from someone claiming to be Cleco, saying you owe money or saying there’s an issue, you can hang up and dial us right back at our official number.”