Utility Scam Awareness Day Set for November 18

The Brownsville Public Utilities Board (BPUB), in collaboration with Utilities United Against Scams (UUAS) will recognize the fifth annual Utility Scam Awareness Day on Wednesday, Nov. 18. Utility Scam Awareness Day is part of the week-long National Scam Awareness Week (Nov.16-Nov.20), a campaign focused on educating customers and exposing tactics used by scammers. This year’s theme is “Together, We Can Stop Scams.”

“Even through these tough times, our customers continue receiving calls from scammers,” said BPUB General Manager & CEO John S. Bruciak. “It’s unfortunate, but our employees are committed to continue educating the community on scam prevention so that they don’t fall prey to these types of schemes in the future.”

UUAS is an association of more than 140 U.S. and Canadian electric, water, and natural gas utilities dedicated to combating impostor utility scams. Since BPUB joined UUAS last year, it has attended monthly meetings with the association to learn about new scam prevention tactics and implement initiatives to inform and protect customers.

BPUB reminds customers to stay cautious whenever speaking to a live operator through an unsolicited phone call. BPUB will never have live operators call customers, request payments or offer to pay their bill in exchange for a portion of the outstanding balance. Customers are encouraged to hang up the phone and call BPUB to verify their account status.

Unsolicited requests for payments, property access, personal information, and bank routing numbers should be reported to the Brownsville Police Department at (956) 548-7000 or by visiting the nearest community police station.

BPUB is encouraging the community to practice social distancing by making account inquiries or paying bills online or by phone. For more information and tips on how customers can protect themselves from imposter utility scams, visit www.brownsville-pub.com, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.