Breaking News: Entergy Scams

Entergy’s Customer Service Centers are receiving numerous inquiries from customers concerning a scam that claims the president of the United States is allowing credits or applying payments to customers’ utility bills.

The scams have occurred in Louisiana, but customer accounts in Texas have been affected. The company has taken action to protect those customers, interrupt the scammers’ processes and limit the spread to others.

“Scammers have visited customers in person, posted fliers and used social media and texting to send messages that the president will provide a credit or directly pay their utility bill,” said David Herring, Manager-Customer Services. “Scammers try to get our customers to reveal personal information that could be harmful.”

The scam calls for customers to make a payment “today” by using a bank routing number supplied by the scammers, and the number appearing on the back of their Social Security cards as the bank account number. Payments made by Entergy customers using the scammers’ method will not process correctly and the money will not be applied to their bills. Customers will still owe the amount shown on their bills for the utility services they have used.

“It is unfortunate that unscrupulous persons would plan such an activity that could harm our customers. But we are watching out for their welfare and have taken action to protect them from this scam,” said Herring.

Customers that already used or are trying to use this bogus payment method could still be affected. But company representatives are identifying accounts where payments have been made using the scammers’ method, and are calling customers to notify them that balances are still due. Those accounts will be corrected to remove the effects of the scam.

“We remind customers to not give their personal information to strangers,” said Herring, “and they should not try to use this bogus payment method by substituting another account or bank routing number.”

Customers who believe they are a victim of this scam can notify the proper authorities, such as the local police, the state attorney general’s office, the Better Business Bureau or other agencies. If they believe their Entergy account has been affected, they should call 1-800-ENTERGY (1-800-368-3749) to speak with a customer service representative.