Danville Utilities is warning its customers about a payment scam involving a threat to disconnect service if payment of their utility bill is not made immediately. Small businesses are the target.
In this scam, the businesses received a phone call from an individual falsely claiming to be with the Danville Utilities Department. The individual is threatening to disconnect service if the business does not make immediate payment. The business owner is given an 800 number to call in order to make payment.
At least four restaurants have reported to Danville Utilities today that they have been targeted in this scam.
“These businesses took the correct steps,” Utilities Director Jason Grey said Friday. “They played it safe by hanging up and contacting us directly.”
Danville Utilities does not contact customers by phone and demand payment. Instead, customers who have delinquent accounts receive multiple notifications by letter from Danville Utilities over the course of several weeks prior to electric service disconnection — never just a single notification before disconnection.
Utility bill payment scams are not new. Guard against fraud. Never provide a Social Security number, credit card number or banking information to anyone requesting it unless you initiated the contact and know the identity of the person with whom you are speaking.
If you receive a call from someone you do not know and who is urging you to make a payment to Danville Utilities, capture the phone number and then hang up and check the legitimacy of the call by contacting Central Collections at 434-799-5125 or by visiting the Charles H. Harris Financial Service Center, which is located at 311 Memorial Drive.
Danville Utilities’ website, www.danvilleutilities.com, offers a variety of approved and convenient options for bill payment.
Danville Utilities provides natural gas, water, wastewater and telecommunications services in Danville and distributes electricity to approximately 42,000 customer locations in a 500-square-mile service territory covering Danville, the southern third of Pittsylvania County, and small portions of Henry and Halifax counties.