Pay Bills on the Phone? Beware of This Scam!

It's so handy to be able to pay bills on-line o0r on the phone beware!  Scammers know how to "follow the money". You may think you are paying your Entergy bill..but if you fall for a "new" scam, you'll be out the money you paid and still owe that bill.

Entergy wants you to know  how it works..

Official Press Release:

Entergy's Customer Service Centers are receiving numerous inquiries from customers concerning a scam that claims the president of the United States is allowing credits or applying payments to customers' utility bills.

The scams have occurred in Louisiana, but customer accounts in Texas have been affected. The company has taken action to protect those customers, interrupt the scammers' processes and limit the spread to others.

"Scammers have visited customers in person, posted fliers and used social media and texting to send messages that the president will provide a credit or directly pay their utility bill," said Chip Arnould, regional customer service manager. "Scammers try to get our customers to reveal personal information that could be harmful."

The scam calls for customers to make a payment "today" by using a bank routing number supplied by the scammers, and the number appearing on the back of their Social Security cards as the bank account number.

Payments made by Entergy customers using the scammers' method will not process correctly and the money will not be applied to their bills. Customers will still owe the amount shown on their bills for the utility services they have used.

"It is unfortunate that unscrupulous persons would plan such an activity that could harm our customers. But we are watching out for their welfare and have taken action to protect them from this scam," said Arnould.

Customers that already used or are trying to use this bogus payment method could still be affected. But company representatives are identifying accounts where payments have been made using the scammers' method, and are calling customers to notify them that balances are still due. Those accounts will be corrected to remove the effects of the scam.

"We remind customers to not give their personal information to strangers," said Arnould, "and they should not try to use this bogus payment method by substituting another account or bank routing number."

Customers should use only authorized methods and legitimate banking information to pay their bills: