AES Ohio warns of scammers targeting customers

AES said it does not provide barcodes for payment at third-party sites.

AES said utility scams are a nationwide issue, and scammers often pose as utility representatives through calls, texts, emails or in-person visits, promising big savings with their products or services or threatening disconnection for an alleged past due bill.

AES Ohio contacts its customers via social media or a media advisory to notify them of scams, said Mary Ann Kabel, the utility’s director of corporate communications.

“The problem these days is scammers used to have seasonal type times that they used to have when we’d see an uptick in scams, but (now) we’re seeing them all year round,” Kabel said. “Whether it’s with a utility, you see it with cable companies, you see it with the IRS. It’s just becoming more and more prevalent.

“When we see a consistent pattern, day-over-day, we make that outreach to our customers via social media.”

Kabel said modern scammers are “very clever.”

“They can disguise themselves, like in the case of AES Ohio, we’ve seen scams where it looks like our outage number, or it looks like one of our internal numbers,” she said. “But instead of being like a 1-800 it might have a 937, and if you’re a Daytonian or you live in that area code, you’re going to assume that it’s most likely us.”

Scammers impersonating a utility often will demand payment or personal information via “sophisticated tactics” such as threatening to disconnect service unless immediate payment is made through unconventional methods such as pre-paid debit cards, gift cards or cryptocurrency.

AES Ohio said its employees always wear badges, provide accurate billing information and never require specific payment methods or sell services door-to-door.

AES said customers can verify their account on www.aes-ohio.com or by calling AES Customer Care at 800-433-8500. Business customers may call 800-253-5801.

Customers are advised to avoid making immediate payments to suspicious individuals, and only share personal information when certain of the person’s authenticity, AES Ohio said.

The utility also suggests customers avoid scams by making payments via the online portal, an authorized agent or by calling AES directly.

Those who suspect they’ve been scammed should immediately report the issue by calling AES and their local police department’s non-emergency number.