BENTONVILLE -- The Police Department recently received several reports of a scam related to utility services.
Several city utility customers have received fraudulent calls from people who claim to be with the city's Utility Department, according to a news release.
The customers were told their utility accounts were delinquent and they would need to make a payment to maintain their service.
Some customers were told their electric consumption was too high and the city would need to change out their meter for a cost. One of the telephone area codes related to the scam is 801.
Any unsolicited phone request to send money or provide personal or account information should be considered fraudulent, according to police.
The city doesn't contact customers by phone to collect payments. It doesn't request customers to make payments on a prepaid credit card.
Customers aren't required to pay for a replacement meter if their meter needed to be replaced because of a malfunction.
If a customer has a question about a bill, payment due dates, delinquencies or to verify if a call came from the city, call the Utility Department customer service at 479-271-3100. If a customer feels like he is a victim of a scam, call the Police Department at 479-271-3170.
NW News on 07/31/2014