Green Mountain Power Alerting Customers About Scam Calls Targeting Small Businesses
Scammers Try to Trick Small Businesses Into Sending Gift Cards To Maintain Power Service
COLCHESTER, Vt. – Green Mountain Power (GMP) is alerting customers about a new wave of scam calls targeting small businesses in Vermont. A caller, claiming to be GMP, tells the business it has to pay up in order to maintain power service because their meter needs to be replaced. In some cases, the scammer makes multiple calls to the business, working to build trust, before urging the customer to purchase and send a gift card. GMP urges customers to hang up on these scammers.
“Customers who’ve gotten these calls tell us they sound legitimate. They are a scam. We work with our customers and are here to help. We would never threaten immediate shut off or demand payment by pre-paid cards or credit cards. If someone does this, no matter how legitimate it sounds, just hang up,” said Tiana Smith, Leader of Customer Care for GMP. “If you’re wondering if we called you, just hang up and call us directly using our main number 888-835-4672.”
Customers are urged that if you get a call like this you should hang up, and:
- Do not provide payment or personal information
- Do not engage with the caller
- Do not call back that number
- Call GMP Customer Service at 888-835-4672 to report the call, and any details about it, like the number it came from, the caller’s name, and what the caller said
Customers are also encouraged to report this scam to the Vermont Attorney General’s Consumer Assistance Program at 800-649-2424 (in state) or 802-656-3183 or online at https://ago.vermont.gov/cap/.
About Green Mountain Power
Green Mountain Power serves more than 275,000 residential and business customers in Vermont with electricity that’s 100% carbon free and 80% renewable on an annual basis, and GMP is partnering with customers to improve lives and transform communities. GMP is providing solutions to cut carbon and is delivering electricity that is clean, affordable, and always on. GMP is the first utility in the world to get a B Corp certification, meeting rigorous social, environmental, accountability and transparency standards and committing to use business as a force for good. In 2022, GMP was named to TIME’s list of the 100 Most Influential Companies. Fast Company named GMP one of the top five Most Innovative Companies in North America in 2022. GMP also earned a spot on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in the World list in the energy sector four years in a row, and in 2023 and 2021 the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) honored GMP as a nationwide leader in energy transformation.
Customers who’ve gotten these calls tell us they sound legitimate. They are a scam. We work with our customers and are here to help. We would never threaten immediate shut off or demand payment by pre-paid cards or credit cards.
Tiana Smith, Leader of Customer Care for GMP
