Phone Scam Targets Ozarks Electric Customers

Ozarks Electric Cooperative is warning customers about a telephone scam targeting customers, especially those who speak Spanish.

According to an Ozarks Electric news release, the scam goes like this:

A caller tells the customer that their electricity is about to be shut off. To avoid losing service, the customer is told they must purchase a “Green Dot Money Card” from a local business. Once they buy the money card, the electric customer is told to call a 800 number and give the serial number of their money card to the person on the line, in order to complete their payment.

This is bogus.

Ozarks Electric never makes such calls, nor does it require customers to buy a third-party money card to make payments on their accounts. Anyone who is contacted by phone and asked to make a payment with a Green Dot Money Card should call the police immediately, the release states.

Ozarks Electric serves customers in Washington, Benton, Crawford and Franklin counties, as well as parts of eastern Oklahoma.