The Sacramento Police Department was recently made aware of a scam that may make your credit card or bank information vulnerable.

The Police Department was notified this week by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) of a scam that targets customers of utility companies.  The scam is accomplished in the following way:  A person contacts the victim by phone pretending to work for a utility company.  The person advises the victim that there is a billing issue involving a lack of payment and that their utilities will be turned off without immediate payment.  The victim, fearing their service will be turned off, proceeds to provide the caller with credit card or bank information that can be used to compromise the victim's accounts.

The Sacramento Police Department would like to remind people never to provide personal information (social security numbers, credit card numbers, or bank account numbers) over the telephone.  SMUD advises that their customer service representatives will never call a customer and ask for financial information over the telephone.  If someone does, it is likely you are being scammed.  If a suspicious call is received, ask for a name, hang up and call the utility company's published phone number.