NorthWestern Energy is warning customers in the Bitterroot Valley of scam calls requesting immediate payment on overdue bills.
Since the middle of this week, several dozen customers have reported receiving such calls asking for immediate payment via a prepaid debit card. Once spent, funds from these cards cannot be recovered.
Butch Larcombe is a spokesperson for the utility company. He says that several restaurants and businesses have been targeted.
"Some of them have responded and paid money to these people, unfortunately," he said.
Larcombe says NorthWestern customers should be suspicious of any caller requesting account or payment information over the phone. Users with overdue bills are notified in several hard-copy mailings, and he says having electricity service cut off entirely should never come as surprise.
"We're certainly not going to call them up and demand payment in an hour or two, that's just not how we do business," he said.
NorthWestern has issued similar warnings several times each year for nearly all of Montana’s cities.
The company is asking people who have received suspicious calls to report the number of the caller to NorthWestern or the police.
