NGEMC WARNS OF NEW PHONE SCAM IN THE AREANorth Georgia EMC is warning residents to stay alert for thieves and scam artists.

NGEMC had a recent report of a telephone scam in which the caller claimed to be an NGEMC employee and told the NGEMC member they needed to come to the home and change the meter.

The caller told the resident a 16-percent increase would be added to the bill for doing this. The NGEMC member then heard a prompt to press 1 if this was an error message.

Scammers steal in many ways. They may try to enter your home by false pretenses or claim your bill is behind and threaten service disconnection unless you immediately pay by credit card or other means. If scammers leave a number to call back, do not call. A thief taking your call may even answer it as NGEMC or Georgia Power. Thieves have even recorded utility company on-hold messages and advertisements and replayed them on their phone systems so they sound like a legitimate utility. In addition, utility impostors have placed utility names and fake logos on vehicles and gone door to door stealing people’s money, saying they need to collect utility bills.

NGEMC representatives do not call customers to request credit card information and representatives do not visit customers’ homes to collect payments. Credit card transactions by phone can only be initiated by the member calling NGEMC’s published phone numbers. NGEMC employees at times may require access to a customer’s outside property for the purpose of power restoration and equipment maintenance. However, unless a member has requested a pre-scheduled, on-site energy inspection, NGEMC employees or contractors do not enter homes. NGEMC employees and contractors carry identification badges and wear uniforms. If you have any doubt that someone is an actual utility employee, call the NGEMC office numbers listed below to confirm. If you feel your safety is in jeopardy, call 911 immediately.

To stay safe from scam artists, impostors, and thieves:

Never open your home to strangers who are acting as utility workers. Never provide financial or personal information to callers, people who visit your home or contact you by any

other means. Always report possible fraud or scams to local law enforcement and the local utility.

If you have any questions about utility scams, please call your local NGEMC office: Dalton 706.259.9441; Fort Oglethorpe 706.866.2231; Calhoun 706.629.3160; and Trion 706.734.7341.