NES Customers Targeted By Utility Payment Scam

Nashville, Tenn. – Nashville Electric Service (NES) customers are being targeted by a multi-state payment scam the utility warned about last month. NES does not know for sure how many customers are victims at this point, but transactions have been ranging anywhere from $100 to $2,000. How The Scam Works: False information that the federal government will pay your utility bill has spread over Facebook, Twitter, via email, door to door flyers, and person to person. Customers are told that President Obama has approved special funding through the Federal Reserve Bank for utility bill assistance, but there is no such funding. Victims are given fraudulent bank account and routing numbers to use when paying their bills online, but only after they provide their Social Security number and other personal information. The scam has hit several utilities in different states, some reporting as many as 10,000 known cases. Part of what makes this scam so appealing, is that it actually appears to work, said Teresa Corlew, NES VP & Chief Customer Care Officer. The customer receives a credit on their account until the payment is returned. Corlew says one of the fake routing number NES has identified is from GE Capital Bank, but there are most likely others. NES employees always carry proper identification and never contact customers requesting personal information such as bank accounts or social security numbers. Also, field employees do not accept payments. Customers who have doubts about the legitimacy of any call, should contact NES Customer Relations directly at (615) 736-6900. Nashville Electric Service is one of the 12 largest public electric utilities in the nation, distributing energy to more than 360,000 customers in Middle Tennessee. For more information about NES, visit www.nespower.com.