Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
At least two businesses in the city were targeted by an attempted telephone scam Wednesday involving someone claiming to be with Shawano Municipal Utilities and demanding payment on a supposed overdue account.
SMU customers were being told they had to call an 800 number to reach the 24-hour call center to arrange payment and keep their service from being disconnected.
SMU does not have an 800 number or a 24-hour call center.
“They’re making it sound as though they’re looking up your account and that it’s past due and they’re demanding a payment,” SMU General Manager Brian Knapp said.
Knapp said two businesses were contacted with the scam within a short time of one another Wednesday, but neither one of them was taken in by the ruse.
“They were smart and called our after-hours number,” he said. “But there may be others out there who fall for the scam.”
Knapp said the scammers are apparently robo-calling and might even be using his name.
Knapp said SMU does not make calls telling people to call an 800 number and demanding payment.
When an account really is overdue, a letter is sent out first and there’s a process of disconnection that could take 10 to 18 days.
There are additional hoops for SMU to go through to be able to disconnect a business during the winter moratorium, which kicks in Nov. 1.
Residential customers cannot be disconnected until April.
If there are any questions, customers can always call SMU at 715-526-3131.