Middle Tennessee Electric customers targeted by fraudulent calls

Customers of Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation are being targeted by a phone scam.

Officials say there have been a number of calls where people are posing as employees, telling people their accounts are past due, and threatening to shut service off.

“We have received a number of calls this weekend from members who are concerned about scam calls that are affecting them,” said MTEMC Communications Coordinator Josh Clendenen. “The callers have been posing as co-op employees, telling the member they are sending a truck to cut their power off and instructing the member to get a prepaid credit or debit card to pay their bill over the phone.”

MTEMC says in the past, scammers would call during the week, during high bill times. But this time, those calls are being made on the weekend.

“Our offices are closed on the weekend, so we are not making any of these calls members are reporting,” explained Clendenen.

Customers and members are told that if they’re unsure the caller is from the company, they should hang up and call directly.

In the event a member’s account is past due, they would receive an automated phone call notifying them of the past due nature of their account. MTEMC employees will never ask for their personal account or payment information unless the member initiates the call.

In addition, MTEMC will never show up at a member’s home or business and ask to collect payment. If someone claiming to be an MTEMC employee asks for payment at your home or business, please contact the authorities immediately.