Friday, August 1, 2014

Richland Electrical Bill Scam

Over the past several weeks there have been a number of phone calls made to citizens of the City of Richland informing customers that their electrical utility bill is overdue and that they must pay at least 1/2 of the balance immediately or have their service shut off.  The caller states that they will accept a Western Union transfer, a credit/debit card, or a pre-paid Green Dot card number.

No calls of this type are being made by the City of Richland.  If their is a delinquency on an account, an automated system will be used to make a notification via telephone but payment will not be demanded at the time of the call.

Citizens are warned that this is a scam and no interruption of their electrical service will occur if they are not delinquent on their utility bill.  Do not provide any credit/debit card information to a solicitor on the phone. 

If there is any doubt about the status of an individual utility bill you may check on line (link is on the City web site www.ci.richland.wa.us), by visiting the finance office at 505 Swift Blvd., or by calling 509-942-1104.

If you have suffered a monetary loss, please call 628-0333 to request an officer contact you to make a report.