During the weekend, the Chelsea Police Department alerted residents that a resident received a scam call from someone who said he worked with Consumers Energy.
The caller told the city resident that the household’s electricity account was past due, and payment had to be paid immediately to avoid shutoff.
The man instructed the resident to go to CVS and purchase Green Dot Money Cards and call him back with the activation codes.
Police reported that the resident did not follow through with the purchase and hung up before any money was lost.
Police want residents to know that the City of Chelsea would not request payment in the form of pre-paid credit card, so if you receive one of these calls, hang-up and call the City of Chelsea immediately with information.
Police are also asking any resident who may have received a similar call to contact the Chelsea Police Department with any information that you may have.
And, as a general note, anyone who calls or sends an email and requests payment using pre-paid credit cards or says they are with a government agency such as the IRS, should be treated with caution.
Although there are legitimate purposes for pre-paid credit cards, these cards are frequently exploited by criminals because of their difficulty to trace once the money has been turned over.
