PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (March 13, 2014) — A West Michigan business has lost thousands of dollars by a telephone scam.
The incident happened Wednesday in Plainfield Township when the suspects on the phone acted as DTE Energy employees trying to collect on a bill, according to the Kent County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies say that the scam artist had the business’s account numbers, past and current bill information.
The alleged scam happened during the business’s lunch rush and the scammers said that the company needed to pay the bill or there would be an interruption in their services. They were directed to get Green Dot Money Pack prepaid cards in order to pay the bill. The business agreed to the request and was scammed out of $3,500.
The phone number was made to look like the DTE phone number and if the number is called, it has an option for delinquent accounts. Sheriff’s deputies say in a release that if the business has taken further action and contacted DTE, they would have discovered it was a scam.
If you feel like you’ve been scammed or are contacted to pay your utility bill by Green Dot, contact DTE energy and file a fraud complaint with the police.
