SEELEY LAKE – Monday, Jan. 27, two business in Seeley Lake reportedly received a call from someone posing to be NorthWestern Energy. They were told they had outstanding bills and unless they paid immediately their electric would be shut off that night.
Following the call, Grizzly Claw Trading Co. Manager Kathy Kinzfogl immediately recognized that NorthWestern Energy was not their provider electric provider. She called Energy Partners, their propane heat source, and was told they were targets of a scam. Both Kinzfogl and Energy Partners advised anyone called by a utility company to hang up and call the utility on their direct line to confirm the charges before providing payment information. Since NorthWestern Energy does not service the area that should be an immediate red flag.
NorthWestern Energy reported on their website in May 2019 that Montana customers were being targeted by a scam threatening immediate utility shut offs. Customers report that they receive a call telling the customer to call a 1-800 number to avoid having their utility service interrupted. Customers who called the phone number report that the person who answers the call demands immediate payment.
Kinzfogl called the number, 1-800-576-4812 and heard a recorded message that said this was NorthWestern Energy. However the contact number for Montana customers published on NorthWestern’s website for Montana is 1-888-467-2669.
In the press release on NorthWestern’s website, they report that NorthWestern does not call customers and demand immediate payment of past-due bills. The utility will provide multiple past-due notices before terminating service. If you get a cancellation notification, always verify it by dialing the customer service number on your utility bill. Don’t supply any personal information unless you are sure you are indeed working with the utility. NorthWestern never asks customers to use a prepaid debit card for payment.
Signs of Potential Scam Activity:
• Threat to disconnect: Scammers may aggressively tell a customer his or her utility bill is past due and service will be disconnected if a payment is not made – usually within less than an hour.
• Request for immediate payment: Scammers may instruct a customer to purchase a prepaid card – widely available at retail stores – then call them back supposedly to make a bill payment to his or her utility company.
• Request for prepaid card: When the customer calls back, the caller asks the customer for the prepaid card’s number, which grants the scammer instant access to the card’s funds, and the victim’s money is gone.
How Customers Can Protect Themselves:
• Customers should never purchase a prepaid card to avoid service disconnection or shutoff. Northwestern Energy and other utility companies do not specify how customers should make a bill payment and always offer a variety of ways to pay a bill, including accepting payments online, by phone, automatic bank draft, mail, or in person.
• If someone threatens immediate disconnection or shutoff of service, customers should hang up the phone, delete the email, or shut the door. Customers with delinquent accounts receive advance disconnection notification. NorthWestern Energy and other utility companies never send a single notification one hour or less before disconnection.
Customers who suspect that they have been victims of fraud or who feel threatened during contact with one of these scammers, should contact local law enforcement authorities. The Federal Trade Commission’s website is also a good source of information about how to protect personal information.
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