There is a on-line utility bill payment SCAM that is spreading across the country. Using fliers, text messages, E-mails and phone calls, scammers are convincing victims that a special federal government assistance program is now available to help pay utility bills. No such program exists! The victims are given bank routing and account numbers to use to make on-line payments after they ‘Register’ by giving the scammers their Social Security Numbers and other key personal information.
This particular scam is spreading so quickly because it seems to work, the bank routing and account numbers are valid and payments are processed and initially credited to the victims, who receive payment confirmation notices. When the settlement process between the banks that are involved takes place, the scam is discovered and the payments are invalidated, thus causing problems for the consumer and the utility.
There are a number of different articles on the internet concerning this scam, also Snopes.com has information about this scam. At this time we are evaluating if there are any additional steps or safeguards that can be put in place without causing payment issues for users of E-checks.
