Scam alert: Be aware of strange phone calls

LAKE sound WORTH familiar? — Does this

Your phone rings. The caller ID says the number is in Lake Worth, so you answer. Then you’re told you owe money on your utility bill and that it will be shut off if you don’t pay immediately with a Green Dot MoneyPak card or a personal credit card.

If you get a call like that, just hang up. They’re Lake Worth phone says scammers. scammers are targeting the city again, posing as city work- ers to line their pockets. The city says Lake Worth Utilities will never call and demand credit card information or take a Green Dot MoneyPak card as payment.

The city does not ask for personal information from customers unless the cus- tomer initiates the contact.

In an email sent Monday, Ben Kerr, city spokesman, said the calls aren’t coming from Lake Worth.

Kerr told The Palm Beach Post late last year that the scam flares up every now and again in the city. “It’s not unique to Lake Worth (and) is experienced by almost every utility provider in the United States,” he said. The city says if you do receive one of these calls and are in doubt, call Lake Worth Utilities at 561-5337300. Authorities have been notified of the scam. If you’ve been a victim, make a suspicious incident report with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office at 561-688-3400. Once a customer is given a case number, contact Lake Worth Utilities, which will forward the information to a detective, the city said. That’s what Darin Onam, owner of Hachi Asian Cuisine and Grill on Lake Avenue did last year. “They said I owned, like, $2,500 on my utility bill,” she said. “But I told them I didn’t believe them, hung up the phone and called the city and gave them the number.”