By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Evergy is warning customers about phone scammers who are trying to trick people into paying bogus bills.
The company has received “many customer reports" in the last couple of days. In most cases, the caller claims to be an Evergy customer service rep. They try to get customers to provide credit card information or other personal information.
Sometimes, they ask people to use a pre-paid card. They even say that a check has bounced or a past bill is due.
"Scammers have increased calls, texts, emails and even in-person tactics," Evergy spokesperson Andrew Baker said. "Contacting customers asking for immediate payment to avoid service disconnection. So, we've seen it increase during the pandemic and again in the last couple of days."
Evergy says representatives will never request payment the same day disconnections are made. They also never ask customers to use a pre-paid debit card, a gift card, any form of cryptocurrency or a third-party payment app for bills.
Customers are encouraged to use Evergy's Customer Contact service on the Evergy website to confirm they are working with a real company representative.
"Always be sure," Baker said. "If someone comes to your door, they should be driving an Evergy vehicle. They'll have Evergy clothing. An Evergy badge. Always be on the safe side and reach out to our customer contact center and check your bill status to always verify before you do anything over the phone."
Baker says phone scams targeting Evergy customers have been on the rise since the pandemic began. He's not sure why there's been such an uptick in the last couple of days.
"But I know it's an opportunity for people to try and take advantage of another person and try to scam them out of some money."