Mississippi Power offers customers scam tips during COVID-19 crisis

Mississippi Power is urging customers to be aware of scammers during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially phone calls demanding payments via phone.

“Mississippi Power will never ask for your banking information or a credit card or pre-paid debit card number over the phone or in person at your residence,” Security Investigator Chris Loposser said. “Scammers try different approaches, but they typically claim your bill is overdue and threaten to disconnect power if immediate payment isn’t made over the phone.”

The best advice to anyone who gets a call demanding payment or personal information is to hang up and report it to local law enforcement and call Mississippi Power at 1-800-532-1502. Never give out personal information to a caller and be on guard for leading questions that could prompt you to accidentally give out personal information.

All Mississippi Power field representatives are uniformed and travel in company vehicles marked with the Mississippi Power logo. Each employee also carries a badge with his or her photograph, name and the company logo.

Additionally, on March 14, Mississippi Power announced the company was suspending customer disconnects during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company will continue to evaluate the policy and timeframe of that process as the COVID-19 situation develops.

Mississippi Power offers additional scam warning tips for customers on its website.

Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), produces safe, reliable and environmentally responsible energy for more than 188,000 customers in 23 southeast Mississippi counties. With nearly 160 megawatts of approved solar energy capacity, Mississippi Power is the largest partner in providing renewable energy in the state of Mississippi. Visit our website at mississippipower.com, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

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