Naperville Police Warn Of Utility Fraud & Scams

NAPERVILLE, IL — The Naperville Police Department issued a message Tuesday urging people to do their due diligence to avoid phone scams. They've been continuing to receive complaints from residents and businesses that have received calls from scammers threatening arrests, service interruption, and even legal action if payment isn't provided immediately.

"These callers can sound very convincing and are sometimes quite persistent and even threatening," said Commander Louis Cammiso. "We don't want any of our residents being scared into releasing personal or banking information over the phone."

Business owners have been the most recent targets, police said. The callers say they're from the utility company and instruct the recipients to make a quick payment with a MoneyPak card to prevent service interruption. The scammers even went to the trouble of making their caller ID number look like it's from the City of Naperville.

Anyone who gets a call like this should never make payment or give out any of their banking information. Naperville's electric and water utilities will never request payment for delinquent utilities over the phone. Those notifications are given with a letter.

Calls like these can be reported online, or by calling the department at 630-420-6666. Naperville PD keeps track of scams to let the public in on the latest tricks.

The state's Comptroller's office will present a free program on avoiding scams at Nichols Library, 200 W. Jefferson Ave., Thursday evening at 6:00. It will also cover what to do next if you are victimized.

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