Thursday, March 23, 2023

Officials warn of possible utility scam

The James City Service Authority said there are various reasons why people might see higher water bills this cycle. (WYDaily/Pixabay)
The James City Service Authority said there are various reasons why people might see higher water bills this cycle. (WYDaily/Pixabay)

Virginia Beach Public Utilities was notified that some customers are receiving calls from someone claiming to work for the city.

Authorities said the caller claims that Public Utilities will be turning the customer’s water off imminently for non-payment and requests payment over the phone.

Here’s the deal: Virginia Beach Public Utilities is not currently turning customers’ water service off for delinquency, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Authorities are urging residents to “never give personal or banking information to an unverified or unsolicited caller.”

John Mangalonzo
John Mangalonzohttp://wydaily.com
John Mangalonzo (john@localdailymedia.com) is the managing editor of Local Voice Media’s Virginia papers – WYDaily (Williamsburg), Southside Daily (Virginia Beach) and HNNDaily (Hampton-Newport News). Before coming to Local Voice, John was the senior content editor of The Bellingham Herald, a McClatchy newspaper in Washington state. Previously, he served as city editor/content strategist for USA Today Network newsrooms in St. George and Cedar City, Utah. John started his professional journalism career shortly after graduating from Lyceum of The Philippines University in 1990. As a rookie reporter for a national newspaper in Manila that year, John was assigned to cover four of the most dangerous cities in Metro Manila. Later that year, John was transferred to cover the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines. He spent the latter part of 1990 to early 1992 embedded with troopers in the southern Philippines as they fought with communist rebels and Muslim extremists. His U.S. journalism career includes reporting and editing stints for newspapers and other media outlets in New York City, California, Texas, Iowa, Utah, Colorado and Washington state.

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