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Aggravating matters is the fact that some customers who called their utilities have apparently been told that the utility does not handle consumer disputes with third-party energy providers, and that the full amount must be paid. In many cases, however, you may have another party to whom to turn, as the billing for the third-party provider is actually handled by the local public utility scammers may be relying on the fact that some utilities put warnings about shutting off power on the bills of people who fall behind in payments – providing a strong incentive for people to pay their bills even when overcharged. It is best if you resolve the issue directly with your supplier, but, if my experience described above is any indicator, your supplier may be unreachable.
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If you are being overcharged, make sure to dispute the validity of the charges with the party that bills you. Some bills tell you what the public utility would have charged in other cases the information is easily obtainable online or by phone. If inflated rates violate an agreement that you had with your supplier, check the cost (per kWh) and make sure it is similar to the rate charged by your public utility. So, as step one: Before paying your power bill make sure you are not being overbilled. Because people typically use far less electricity in the winter than they do in the summer, even people being scammed may find the total due for electricity in January or February to be a number that they have seen in the past. Many people routinely pay their utility bills without checking the specifics. Furthermore, in areas in which States of Emergency were recently declared due to weather – for example, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, both of which have residents reporting severely inflated electric bills – price gouging may have violated other laws. And, of course, other agreements may also have been broken. Another provider continued to advertise rates on its website that are far lower than what some customers claim they were being charged. Simply Pay Less.,” and “you can enjoy low energy rates” – while it was charging more than double the price of the publicly-regulated utility with which it competes. One provider’s website continued to advertise “we make your savings our responsibility,” “The Same Service & Reliability. As part of its marketing and sales process, one supplier promised that its rates would never suddenly increase by large amounts. of the reason for the increases, however, people should think twice before paying their bills, as, in many cases, the firms may not have the right to charge the exorbitant rates. For more information, or to file a complaint, contact the Office of Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson as follows: Office of Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson, 445 Minnesota Street, Suite 1400, St. The FTC may be reached as follows:įederal Trade Commission, Consumer Response Center, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC 20580. You can also report utility shut-off scams to the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"), which has the authority to enforce federal laws regulating nuisance calls and interstate fraud over the telephone. You should also report the call to your local police department or sheriff's office. If you receive a utility shut-off scam call, you should report it to your utility company. Tell the caller you would like to verify the call is legitimate and then call back at a trusted number for the company. If a caller tries to keep you on the phone to prevent you from verifying the call, or says you must pay immediately to prevent your power from being disconnected, the call may not be legitimate. In general, " " websites are vulnerable to attack.
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A secure website name starts with " the "s" is for secure.
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If you feel suspicious about a caller telling you to make a payment via a website, check to make sure the website is secure. Most utility companies will allow you to mail payment directly to the company, or pay via a secured website.It is a good rule of thumb to avoid providing any information-including credit card numbers, checking account information, or other personal information-over the phone to people who call you. Be careful providing information over the phone and online.Prepaid debit cards and wire transfers are difficult to trace and it can be almost impossible to recover the money once it is sent. If the caller demands you send payment via a prepaid debit card or wire transfer, that is generally a red flag that the call is part of a scam.