Avista cautions customers about scams

Avista wants customers to know it never makes high-pressure calls threatening to turn off electricity if they don’t pay instantly over the phone.

Utility scams are increasing across the country and often hit local providers such as Avista.

“It seems like hardly a week goes by that we don’t receive reports from customers about scam attempts,” said Debbie Simock, senior communications manager for Avista. “Sadly it’s often from customers who were victims.”

Simock said the callers, who often have software to make it appear on caller ID as if the call is coming from Avista, state that the resident’s or business’s utility bill is past due. Often they request that the customer purchase a Green Dot prepaid card and load it with money. They then ask the customer to call back and give them the card number. The threat is if the money isn’t received that day, the power will be disconnected immediately.

Simock said that if you do have a past due bill, utilities will contact you in a different way and never threaten to turn off power if the bill isn’t paid immediately.

She said if a customer gets a call that doesn’t seem right, hang up and then call the utility using the phone number provided by the actual company to see if they really did contact you.

To report a utility scam, call Avista at (800) 227-9187.