DON’T BE A VICTIM OF A UTILITY SCAM
Utility scams are becoming more widespread and harder to spot. The City of Anderson and Electric City Utilities (ECU) wants to help our customers by providing our customers with the knowledge to help identify fraud or possible fraud.
Common Scam Tactics:
- Utility disconnection threats: Customers may receive threats to turn off water if large payment is not paid in a quick time frame usually in less than one hour.
- Immediate payment requests: Customers are asked to quickly purchase a prepaid debit card and provide card information, which grants the scammer instant access to funds.
- Calls that appear from ECU: Scammers may rig caller ID to make it look like the call is from the City of Anderson.
How to Protect yourself:
- For customers with delinquent accounts, Electric City Utilities (ECU) provides a courtesy telephone reminder that the payment has not reached our office and the account is past due.
- Do not pay over the phone if immediate payment is requested. ECU has a dedicated phone line for all credit card payments. Please call 1-844-323-4109- for all credit card payments. Customer support staff will not ask for this information. The City also offers on line bill pay at: https://www.cityofandersonsc.com/payments/ . This will reflect the customer’s true outstanding balance and provides an option for payment.
- (ECU) will never require a prepaid debit card for payment. Electric City Utilities never accepts payments anywhere other than our office located at 601 S. Main Street. ECU water line technicians working in the field do not accept any forms of payment.
ECU will never email customers to request personal information or banking information. ECU will never share your account information with anyone.
We encourage customers who suspect a scam to hang up and call ECU immediately at (864) 260-6347. Never dial the phone number that the potential scammer has provided.