A telephone scam is luring cooperative members to give out personal information. The scam tells members that the federal government is authorized to pay their electric bill if they use a specific bank routing number and their social security number.
The scam has spread across the nation as electric bills begin to rise due to summer temperatures. Cooperative members are most likely to get contacted through phone calls, text messages or social media.
Members who completed the process outlined in the scam do not immediately realize their payment has not actually been posted to their utility account. This results in the possibility of their electric service being cut off due to non-payment.
“We urge our members to guard their personal accounting and banking information and never share this information with family, friends or strangers. “We also want to assure our members that all Little River Electric Cooperative payment systems are secure and have not been breached.”
Little River Electric Cooperative will never call its members to solicit personal information. We encourage members to ignore suspicious attempts to solicit personal information, such as banking information and social security numbers, and to call the police if a member feels they have been a victim of a crime. Additionally, members can report suspicious activity by calling the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs (SCDCA) main reception telephone number is 1-800-922-1594 (toll-free in S.C.) or 803-734-4200.
