Waunakee Police responded to a scam attempt on July 17 at a local business. A business owner got a call from someone indicating he was with Waunakee Utilities, and the business owner was delinquent in payment. Further, utilities was going to shut his power off unless the business owner went to Walgreens and purchased a gift card, called back and read the numbers off the card. The business owner was alert enough to pick up on the scam and alerted police.
This is a nationwide scam and it has been successful many times, and especially when targeting the elderly and the business community. Waunakee Utilities does not operate by cold calling customers to inform them their power will be shut off. According to Waunakee Utilities Manager Tim Herlitzka, utilities will send a letter to the resident/business notifying of overdue payment. If payment is not received within a reasonable time, a Waunakee Utilities employee physically goes to the residence or business and posts a bright orange notice on the front door indicating the bill is overdue.
Below are two links to similar scam attempts through local utility groups.
http://journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/we-energies-scam-being-taken-to-a-different-level/article_cc0d2308-e7fc-11e2-a142-0019bb2963f4.html
http://host.madison.com/news/local/crime_and_courts/scammers-using-madison-water-utility-meter-upgrade-program-to-bilk/article_6aa4d4ea-37fb-589f-996a-5dc8d3992d8e.html#ixzz2YU0EX3jw