SAN ANTONIO — CPS Energy is warning customers about schemers who are using the utility's logo in text messages and threatening to disconnect service in an attempt to get their money.
"These scams claim a deposit or payment is required or service will be immediately disconnected," the utility said, in an email sent to clients Tuesday. "CPS Energy will not call or text demanding immediate payment to prevent a disconnection."
Utility officials said not to pay outside of their normal payment lines, telling customers that their account can be managed at cpsenergy.com or by calling customer service at 210-353-2222. More information on these schemes can be found here.
CPS Energy spoke to KENS 5 about similar schemes recently, and said customers should also keep in mind the following:
- We will never call to demand payment and threaten same-day disconnection.
- We may call with a reminder that you have a past-due balance and are at risk for service disconnection.
"We have resumed this connection both on the large commercial and residential side, but know disconnections take a very long time to go through the process, right?" said Christen Waggoner, with CPS Energy. "We send several letters. We send several courtesy calls reminding of payments. We send final disconnection letters. But we don't make any phone calls out to customers threatening to disconnect their services unless they pay immediately."
- We will never ask for your banking or credit card information.
- The only way to make a payment by phone is for you to call our authorized payment numbers, (877) 257-1172 for residential and (855) 290-7615 for commercial. We will never call you from these payment numbers.
- We will never transfer your call to a representative to take your payment.
- We will never ask for you to make a payment with a gift card, money card or prepaid credit card.
- We encourage you to use Manage My Account to view your bills, balance due, and much more.
Aside from those steps, CPS Energy has an entire section on its website devoted to other things to be aware of when it comes to your bill and CPS Energy in general. To check it out, click here.
If you do get a call demanding money and are asked to call a different number to make a payment, write down that number and give it to CPS Energy.
"We encourage customers to call us if they are able to capture a toll free number that they are given by a potential scammer, and we will do the research and the work to get them shut down," Waggoner said.
CPS Energy also reminds customers it will legitimately call you to offer you resources if you are at risk for disconnection. It will not request payment.