A recent scam has been directed towards Farmville involving phone calls to residents in the area.
According to a released alert from the Farmville Police Department, victims reported “receiving telephone calls from persons claiming to work for Dominion Virginia Power. The caller threatens disconnection of service for past due accounts if payment is not immediately made. Victims are instructed to purchase ‘pre-paid’ credit cards and call back with the credit card numbers to pay off their accounts.”
Dominion has denied involvement in the incident. On July 10, Dominion sent out a media release, which stated that the company “does not take payment over the phone and never asks for immediate payment of cash, Paypal, ‘MoneyPak/Green Dot’ or any prepaid debit card as a prerequisite to keeping lights on.”
According to the Farmville Police Department, most utility providers do not require payment using a pre-paid credit card or request payment over the phone. Most utility providers will also typically set up a payment plan to assist their customers that are behind on a bill.
If you are suspicious of a caller who is requesting payment for any reason, the Farmville Police Department advises to “collect as much information as possible from the caller and report it immediately to law enforcement or your utility company.”
