Star Staff Reports

Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division has received reports of a scam targeting commercial/business customers.
Commercial and business customers are receiving false calls about their utility bill.
The scammer is instructing customers that MLGW has a new payment system and any payments made previously were not accepted into the new system. The scammer instructs the customer to make a payment again; however, the customer is instructed to purchase and use a reusable gift card that equals the bill payment amount.
After that, the customer is told to call the scammer back with the gift card’s ID number in order to post payment. If the customer does not make the payment by 5 p.m., the customer is threatened with a utility service cut-off.
MLGW service representatives do not personally call a customer to request a payment, though MLGW does mail cut-off notices to customers and uses auto-dialers alerting them that a payment needs to be made by a certain date to avoid cut-off.
Customers who believe they have been targeted or victimized with this or any other scam should immediately contact the Memphis Police Department at (901) 545-2677.