An elderly lady is sitting at home reading a book when the phone rings. She’s not expecting a call from anyone and assumes that it’s probably a solicitor. When she answers, a friendly voice on the other end says he works for Avista and she’s behind on her payments. To avoid a disconnection of service, he’s demanding an immediate payment. She’s fairly certain that she paid last month’s bill and she’s never fallen behind on her payments in the past. Even though she’s almost positive the caller is incorrect, with Avista’s number showing on the caller id, and a demanding tone in his voice he persuades her to purchase a pre-paid card from a local retail store and call him back with the payment information.
With a simple web search you can find multiple people just like this lady that were tricked out of their hard-earned money by professional scam artists. The truth is that it’s getting harder to determine what’s real and what’s fake. Scammers are very good at impersonating businesses and scams are becoming more and more prominent throughout the country and Avista’s service territory.
Being well informed can help you detect suspicious behavior whether by phone, email or in person, and ultimately help you avoid being scammed.
If you are ever suspicious about any call or communication, feel free to check in with us at (800) 227-9187. Our customer service representatives are available to verify if the contact is actually coming from Avista.