Recently I spoke to a customer that was concerned they had received a scam call. The caller informed the customer that they were due for a refund on their utility account. The caller asked the customer for a credit card or a checking account number to process the refund to the customer. This was a scam call; Perennial will never process a refund to a customer in this manner. Refunds are issued by check or if it is an incentive, we will apply a bill credit to the customer’s Perennial account.
Scammers are continually coming up with new and creative ways to take advantage of people. Unfortunately, there have been people who provide sensitive information to scammers and end up losing their money. They can be very persuasive, and they will attempt to vaguely answer customer questions. Scam tactics include impersonating utility employees by going door to door requesting cash payments to prevent interruption of services, or requesting that a customer purchase gift cards or prepaid credit cards to avoid interruption in services. Calling schemes include, scammers casting a large net trying to find individuals or businesses they can exploit. Caller ID provides very little protection and may add to the ruse, with scammers often able to “spoof” the phone number and make it appear as if Perennial Public Power District or another utility provider is calling. Sophisticated scammers can create very authentic-looking emails, and in many cases, they may even look like they come from a legitimate email account. Generally, most of these scam emails are sent out in mass, and the latest security software will help to identify and remove these emails. These emails may provide you with some information that makes them seem authentic such as including, your name and address, or the name of your bank. If an email looks authentic and you want to verify it with us, please call and Perennial Customer Services can assist you in verifying if the email was legitimately sent from our personnel.
For customer protection, Perennial no longer accepts credit card payments over the phone, customers are transferred to Secure Pay, an Interactive Voice Response system to process secure credit card payments. Other secure payment options are available on our website: perennialpower.com. Keeping our customers and their personal information safe is important to Perennial. Behind the scenes, we are continually working hard to make sure our payment systems provide robust protection of your financial and personal information. Perennial does not share our customers’ information with any third parties. Any informational mailers or promotions come directly from Perennial and are intended to meet our goal of educating customers. If you have any questions about your account or have any concerns about a solicitation you may have gotten on the phone or via the Internet, don’t hesitate to call Perennial at 402-362-3355 or 800-289-0288.
