THOMASVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT WARNS OF UTILITY PAYMENT SCAM

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The Thomasville Police Department (TPD) warns that reports have been received regarding attempts to scam City of Thomasville Utilities customers. According to Corporal Crystal Parker, customers have received phone calls from individuals demanding immediate payment by telephone for utility services.

Corporal Parker said that the most recent scam involves an individual falsely claiming to be a City of Thomasville employee and asking customers to immediately pay delinquent utility accounts to avoid a disruption in service. “The most recent call scam included a customer receiving a live phone call to their residential phone line requesting that the customer purchase a prepaid credit card, while remaining on the line, in order to submit payment over the phone. When the customer requested a phone number to call back, they were instructed that their utilities services would be disrupted if they ended the phone call,” said Corporal Parker. “These calls may come in the form of a recorded message or live phone call. In many cases, the utility customer is not even delinquent on their utility bill.”

“Unfortunately, these types of calls are not unusual, and reports say that nearly 45 million adults received a scam call or text in the last three months,” said Corporal Parker. “They are a fairly common method for scamming unsuspecting people out of money. A good rule of thumb is to never provide credit card, banking, or other identifying information by telephone.”

Melissa Donaldson, Director of Customer Service, said that utilities customers will never be called by the City of Thomasville and asked to provide immediate payment by telephone. “The City of Thomasville does not call customers to collect payments, so any call asking for immediate payment should raise a red flag with our customers,” she said. “In addition, we do not utilize an 800 number for outgoing calls and will not leave an 800 number for a return call.”

Donaldson suggests calling the City’s Customer Care department to verify the authenticity of any calls from someone claiming to be a City of Thomasville employee. “I would encourage our customers to call us at 229-227-7001 to verify their account status,” she said. “We can also verify whether the call received was indeed from someone associated with our organization.”

Corporal Parker said that most calls are made to residential and mobile phone numbers, but on occasion, the calls have also reached commercial phone lines. “Over the years, fraudsters have become more sophisticated with the technology they are using and the means they use to gather personal information,” said Corporal Parker. “The most important step to protecting yourself is to never provide payment to someone who is calling you by phone and to always verify any suspicious telephone call by contacting the City’s Customer Care department.”

Customers or citizens that fall victim to a scam should contact the Thomasville Police Department at 229-227-3249.