NEWS/Information
AP&T Warns Customers About Emails and Phone Scams
ALAMEDA, Calif., October 23, 2008 –Alameda Power & Telecom is warning customers of telephone and email scams that appear to come from Alameda Power & Telecom but are fraudulent phishing expeditions and scams.
If there are any questions concerning the status of your account, please call Alameda Power & Telecom Customer Service at (510) 748-3900, Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm.
Alameda Power & Telecom is also warning customers to beware of callers demanding immediate payment on any electric,cable television, or Internet bills.
Scam Phone Calls
Customers throughout Alameda have received calls from a party representing themselves as being from Alameda Power & Telecom’s Billing Dept. The caller states that a recent bill has not been paid in full and immediate payment is required to continue service. Credit card information or checking information is demanded by the caller in an attempt to receive personal financial information.
Scam eMails
“Phishing” is a criminally fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity.
In the most recently reported case, the email asks the customer to confirm account information and provide their:
- user name
- email password
- date of birth
- country/territory
- test question and
- test answer
This email is NOT valid and should NOT be responded to in any way. Alameda Power & Telecom never asks for any personal information or account passwords through email.
If a customer has responded to this email, they are urged to contact the Alameda Power & Telecom help desk at 1-888-207-0204 so their email password may be reset and so that Alameda Power & Telecom can assist in taking any other precautions needed to keep customer account information safe.
Besides Alameda Power & Telecom, the names of Internet giants such as PayPal, eBay, YouTube, and many major banks and financial institutions have been used to lure the unsuspecting.
More on Phishing
Phishing is the term coined by Internet scammers who imitate legitimate companies in emails to entice people to share user names, passwords, account information or credit-card numbers.
For routine payments, Alameda Power & Telecom does provide a number of secure and convenient payment options. For more information, call AP&T Customer Service at 510-748-3900.