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WEBER COUNTY -- A Utah couple is sounding the alarm about a telephone scam that uses the name of a reputable phone company.
The caller threatens service will be shut off unless you pay your bill over the phone. If this scam sounds familiar, that's because it is. Just days ago, KSL reported some Rocky Mountain Power customers had received fraudulent phone calls.
This time, the scammers use Qwest Communications as their cover.
When Erin Miller and Dave Matthews sit down to pay their bills, they make sure every penny counts. "Cause we've been struggling, we have," Matthews said. "We've been struggling to keep our heads above water."
Of all the bills we had that we are working on paying, I knew darn good and well that Qwest was one that was not a problem.
–Dave Matthews
So when the couple got a call from someone claiming to be hired by Qwest Communications, they were very concerned. The caller told the couple they owed $75 in late payments.
"She said, ‘Well your services might be interrupted. We might have to do a shutoff, but you can avoid that by paying us through a credit card or check over the phone. I can take that right now,'" Miller said.
The caller repeatedly asked for credit card information to pay off the so-called bill and even verified the couple's address. But something just didn't add up.
"Of all the bills we had that we are working on paying, I knew darn good and well that Qwest was one that was not a problem," said Matthews.
The couple knew they had overpaid their last bill and had a credit on their account. But the caller could not look up any account information.
Matthews and Miller didn't fall for the stunt and called Qwest, but say they didn't get the help they were looking for.
"They just wanted to tell us that wasn't them, they weren't to blame and goodbye," Miller said.
KSL spoke to Mark Molzen, a spokesman for Qwest, over the phone Saturday. He said the company has nothing to do with the scam.
"That's not a typical interaction with one of our call representatives," Molzen said.
Molzen said the company hasn't received any other complaints about this particular scam, but that customers should still take precautions if they do get a suspicious phone call.
"We encourage them to do exactly what these customers did, which is to hang up and call our toll-free number for customer service," Molzen said. "Qwest works to perfect the customer experience. We do not threaten to shut off service immediately."
If you do happen to get a call you're not quite sure about, Qwest has set up a toll-free number that works to trace and stop this type of activity. The number for the Annoyance Call Bureau is 1-800-582-0655.
Customers will be asked to verify certain bits of information such as a security password or question.
E-mail: aforester@ksl.com
