An alert just in from Seattle City Light, warning about telephone scammers who are surfacing again:

BILL COLLECTION SCAM ARTISTS BACK AT WORK
Customers Urged to Protect Credit Card Information

SEATTLE — Seattle City Light is urging its customers to be on guard
against telephone con artists posing as utility bill collectors who appear
to be targeting customers with Asian surnames.

In the past few days, at least four customers reported they received
phone calls from people claiming to be City Light employees. In the scam,
the callers claim there is a problem with payment of the customer’s
bill by check and demand credit card information to resolve the matter.
Fortunately, the customers avoided becoming victims and contacted City
Light to alert the utility to the problem.

“There is no reason Seattle City Light would be calling customers in
this manner,” Customer Care Director Kelly Enright said. “We don’t do
business that way.”

City Light sends at least two written warnings to customers who are
about to have their power turned off, asking them to contact the utility
directly to make a payment.

City Light also would like to remind customers:
• Seattle City Light never asks customers over the telephone for credit
card information to pay their bills.
• Seattle City Light does not call customers on weekends.
• Seattle City Light employees carry identification with the City Light
logo and will always display it when asked.
All City Light customers are advised to take down the name and
telephone number of anyone who calls and represents themselves as a City Light
employee. Also, before customers provide any credit information, they
should call City Light at 684-3000 to verify that the request is
legitimate. If a customer believes he or she has been contacted by a con
artist, they are urged to contact the Seattle Police Department at (206)
625-5011 to report the incident.