By MATT PIKE
Evergy is urging its customers to be aware of utility scams.
Partnering with United Utilities Against Scams, Evergy is spreading tips to its customers about scams.
Communications Manager with Evergy Matthew Lucht says utility scams have become more prevalent
"The Federal Trade Commission reported that $12.5 billion in theft through cyber scams nationwide was last year, and that’s a 25% increase over 2023,” Lucht tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.
Lucht says utility scams target anyone and everyone, some with fake websites
"Scammers are creating websites and they’re actually paying to get those higher in the searches, so usually it’s the first search that you see,” Lucht explains
Scammers will also ask for gift cards as payment, threaten immediate disconnection for late payments, or offer non-existent discounts to customers.
Lucht says it's a combination of things of why people fall for these scams more and more.
"Scammers are coming up with obviously different ways to convince customers to either provide information that they probably shouldn’t or give them access or get payments of things that they obviously shouldn’t,” Lucht says. “So, I think It’s just really a fear factor and kind of enticing maybe that fear of missing out kind of scenario where you know act now and we’ll give you this discount.”
Evergy advises customers to use strong and unique passwords to protect themselves and enable multi factor authentication.
Lucht says if you are targeted by a scam, customers should contact Evergy
"Report the scam immediately, you can also put that on our website at evergy.com/reportscam, suspicious activity should always be reported obviously to local law enforcement as well,” Lucht says. “But you can get all sorts of information on our website about not only the scams, but how to report fraudulent calls and how to report scams.”
Lucht says Evergy will never disconnect your utilities without multiple notifications prior to disconnection.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.