Telephone scam targeting Boone Electric customers

Another telephone utility scam is targeting utility customers in Mid-Missouri.

Friday morning, a Boone Electric Cooperative member in Columbia informed the utility company they had received a phone call from someone who claimed to be a BEC representative trying to collect payment for an overdue bill.

A similar phone scam happened just last week in Linn, Missouri targeting Three Rivers Electric Cooperative customers.

“It wasn’t surprising to us that it eventually found it’s way up here,” said Ryan Euliss, Chief Financial Officer at Boone Electric.

So far only one BEC member has reported a suspicious phone call to the company. The customer said she’s been receiving these calls over the past few months.

Boone Electric said they will not ask for payments this way.

“We will never contact a member and try to get any kind of payment over the phone,” Euliss said. “Matter of fact, we’re regulated by the payment card industry. We can’t even collect a credit card payment over the phone, so it’s not even allowed.”

They urge members to not make any payments over the phone and to contact them if they do receive some sort of solicitation for payment.