Residents asked to be alert for fraud artists

Scam artists have attempted to victimize residents throughout Georgia recently in a series of con schemes.

Residents in south Georgia and surrounding areas are being targeted by persons coming to their home and claiming to be “from the power company.” The visitor makes some pretext to get the resident outside, at which time a second, unseen accomplice enters the home, taking money and other valuables.

In a separate fraud scheme, individuals are calling customers posing as Georgia Power employees. In an apparent identity theft ruse, the callers claim to need personal information due to a “company database failure.”

Georgia Power employees will never call a customer at home seeking personal information. Field service representatives will never ask a customer for money when they visit a residence. All Georgia Power company representatives carry badges with picture identification, their name and the company’s name and logo. Any field service representatives will also be in uniform and in vehicles marked with the company’s logo. To view official company uniforms click on www.georgiapower.com.

Georgia Power’s Corporate Security department is working with local law enforcement agencies throughout the state to identify the perpetrators. If anyone has been victimized by one of these schemes, or has any information about suspects, they are asked to contact Georgia Power’s Corporate Security department at 404-506-4116.

Georgia Power is the largest subsidiary of Southern Company, one of the nation’s largest generators of electricity. The company is an investor-owned, tax-paying utility, serving customers in 57,000 of the state’s 59,000 square miles. Georgia Power’s rates are more than 15 percent below the national average and its 2 million customers are in all but six of Georgia’s 159 counties.