Fraud Protection

Don’t be scammed by schemes designed to intimidate you into paying a fraudulent utility bill!

The best protection against becoming a victim is knowledge. Here’s what customers need to know to protect themselves:

Fraudulent Callers

  • unknown call on mobile phoneA Springfield Utility Board (SUB) employee will never ask customers to purchase pre-paid cards in order to pay their utility bill.
  • A SUB employee will never ask a customer to provide credit card information directly to them. Anyone wishing to pay over the phone will be directed to call SUB’s secure, automated line at (844) 298-5380.
  • If someone calls on the weekend, or after 5 p.m. on a weekday to say a customer’s service will be disconnected unless a payment is made, that caller is not from SUB. SUB will never disconnect a customer’s service because of non-payment on a weekend or after hours.
  • If someone calls and asks for a customer’s account information, that person is not from SUB. Remember, SUB has that information in our system. However, if a customer calls SUB, a customer service representative will ask for this information to verify that the caller is the account holder.

If a Customer Is Unsure

SUB advises that if a customer is ever unsure whether the person calling is from SUB:

  • Hang up and call us directly at (541) 746-8451
  • If our office is closed at the time, customers can be sure that their service will stay on
    • Unless we are conducting a repair – something that will not require any kind of payment on a customer’s part
  • Customers can ask the answering service to connect them with our Supervisor On Call, who can help allay any concerns

Disconnection

If your service is scheduled for disconnection because of non-payment:

  • The field representative who comes to the property may ask if you’d like to pay the bill to avoid service interruption
  • SUB will have notified the customer of their account status

Therefore, if a request for payment comes as a surprise, we encourage customers to call SUB to verify. It’s very important to call the number on our website to ensure that you are speaking with SUB.