DANBURY — City police are warning residents of two apparent phone scams targeting area residents and businesses.
The first comes from callers purporting to be representatives of Connecticut Light and Power. The caller will inform a business that they owe several hundred dollars on a delinquent bill and failure to pay within an hour will result in the power being shut off, said Lt. Christian Carroccio, Danbury police spokesman.
They are instructed to go to a nearby store, buy a prepaid card and then call back with its pin number, Carroccio said. They may also be asked to use Western Union or MoneyGram, he said.
The second scam involves a person calling residents claiming to be a representative of the Internal Revenue Service. The caller will tell the resident they owe several hundred dollars and failure to pay will result in an arrest warrant being filed against them.
Again, the scammers ask victims to purchase prepaid cards or money transfers and call back with pin numbers, Carroccio said.
Police advised residents and businesses to never provide “personal or financial information to an unsolicited individual via phone and or computer,” that both institutions mentioned would not ask for payment via prepaid cards or wire transfers and that CL&P provides written notice to customers facing disconnection due to nonpayment.