LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Utility companies are warning customers to be aware of people posing as their employees.
"Trust your gut," said Kelley Dearing Smith with Louisville Water. "If something doesn't feel right, it's okay to ask for more identification."
Dearing Smith said Louisville Water has received reports of people claiming to be from a water company who ended up being burglars -- now she's giving out tips on how to make sure workers are real.
"If someone comes to your home and says, 'I'm with the water company,' that's also a red flag," she said. "Our name is Louisville Water Company, and you will never hear our employees just say, 'I'm here with the water company.' So that's another signal to look out for."
Smith said employees and contractors will always drive a car with the Louisville Water logo and wear clothing that is branded with the company's name and logo. Employees will also never need to enter someone's home.
"If someone comes to your house and knocks on the door and says they're with the water company and they have to come inside to look at your water or your meter, that's absolutely not true," Smith said.
LMPD said it did receive a report this Saturday from a woman in the Beechwood Village neighborhood who claimed that two men posing as utility workers came to her home and asked her to come outside. While one man stayed with her outside, the other went inside her home and stole jewelry, according to police. No arrests have been made in that case.
But scammers are not just pretending to be utility workers in person.
Missi Hall said she was one of many people who received a phone call from someone claiming to be from LG&E-KU. She said even the phone number on the caller ID was from LG&E's actual customer service number. She said the caller told her that her balance was past due and even had her account number.
"She said I need to make a payment today or all electric will be shut off within the next 30 minutes," Hall said.
Hall said she knew she had paid all her bills on time, but that the caller was convincing and asked her to give her credit card information in order to pay her upcoming bill. But something did not sit right and Hall said she hung up and called LG&E, where an employee told her that had been a scam.
"That worried me because more people probably are behind due to COVID and not working, and I thought they're really going to get a lot of people on this," she said.
LG&E spokesperson Natasha Collins said the company has received around 2,000 reports of scams from June through November this year, which is a big increase from last year, which saw around 600 reports in that same time period.
"What that tells us is that scammers continue to try to take advantage of this difficult time and we all need to stay on guard," Collins said.
According to Collins, LG&E employees will not threaten to shut off a customer's electricity for a late bill and will not ask customers to give them their credit card information or to buy a prepaid debit card of use a money exchange app to pay off a bill.
Collins said people who receive these phone calls should hang up and call LG&E to ensure it was not an official communication from the company.
More information can be found on both the Louisville Water and LG&E-KU websites.
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