Wisconsin's Weekend Morning News
Michelle Reinen from DATCP with a Warning for Small Business Owners 6-23-24
[music] Well the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin is receiving reports of small businesses and property owners getting a call that appear to be from them. And joining us to set the record straight is Michelle Rynan from DadCap. She is our consumer protection contact and Michelle tell us about this. What is happening? Well the Public Service Commission has received reports from small business owners and from consumers alike indicating that they were set to be disconnected from their utilities. The scammer was demanding payment over the phone and asked for personal financial information as well. Now when these individuals answered the phone their caller ID represented that it was the Public Service Commission calling using the PSC's phone number on that caller ID. So the scammer was really trying to make this look incredibly legitimate by spoofing that caller ID. So what should we do if we think that we're getting spoofed? Well like any utility scam where you think it's your local utility or Public Service Commission or even some other government entity do not trust that caller ID because it can be spoofed. And in addition don't respond to an unsolicited phone call where money or personal information is being demanded of you especially if they're representing that their government entity and know who they're contacting then they have that information. They shouldn't have to ask you to verify it or provide it by phone when they are calling you out of the blue. So please hang up on these calls and report them to consumer protection. And let's give that consumer protection hotline 1-800-422-7128.