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Georgia Power has heard of recent incidents in the Bainbridge area where both residential and local business customers have been contacted by scammers pretending to be Georgia Power employees. Georgia Power has worked for years to make customers aware of how to avoid these scams and stay safe. Georgia Power will never threaten immediate disconnection or demand payment information over the phone. Customers can learn about common scams, tips to avoid becoming a victim, and even use Georgia Power’s Report-a-Scam tool at www.GeorgiaPower.com/Scams.

In a typical example, scammers call customers and advise them that they have a short deadline to make a payment. Caller-ID may even spoof Georgia Power’s name. The scammer typically asks the customers to go to a local retailer (such as Walmart, CVS or Walgreens) and purchase a money pack or other prepaid card for the given amount, and then call another number to share the account number on that prepaid card. If customers provide this information to the scammer, the money is typically lost immediately.