Sept. 26, 2016
Boyne City Police Department officials are warning area residents and business operators about a scam that has been reported to them recently, according to an article posted on the Petoskey News-Review web site.
According to the article, the caller claiming to be from Consumers Energy tells a local business that their electric bill is past due and their power will be shut off in 45 minutes if they do not pay immediately. The caller then instructs the business to purchase pre-paid credit cards to submit as payment.
Similar scams have occurred in the past involving callers claiming to represent Great Lakes Energy.
If you receive a suspicious phone call from someone claiming to be from GLE, hang up immediately and report the incident to us and your local law enforcement agency. Don’t make payments or give your personal information over the phone if you are not comfortable. Contact us first.
Be cautious when asked for personal or banking information over the phone. Never wire or send money over the phone to someone you don’t know. For a list of tips to help avoid fraud visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website.
Best to ignore these crooks and report it to the authorities immediately. You can also check the phone number used (or any other phone number) on this site to see if it has been reported by other people as a scam call: http://callercenter.com/
Thank you, Sophie!