An area law-enforcement agency is alerting the public about a scam.
According to a release from Police Chief Bobby Welliver, the Boonville Police Department continues to receive calls from Boonslick residents reporting suspicious calls from Ameren Missouri. The caller reports that the Ameren customer has a certain amount of time- approximately 30 minutes- to send money or service will be disconnected. In another instance, the caller asked the Ameren customer to go to Walmart and send a gift card as payment. Another Ameren customer was told to go to Dollar General and wait for further instructions.
These are Scams.
The callers are professionals and will use any means to convince the call recipient that Ameren’s services will be disconnected if action is not taken. The caller may have specific information which is used to convince you that the call is legitimate. You are to not release any personal nor financial information to these callers and don’t be convinced of the validity of the call regardless of the information they are providing you. You are encouraged to advise local law enforcement if you receive a call of this type.
If you have the ability to do so, screen calls you are receiving from unknown numbers by simply letting them roll over to voicemail. Since the message references Ameren, you can simply delete it without having to interact with the caller since Ameren does not use this method to speak with its customers.
When in doubt, call the number listed on your Ameren statement. Call the (800) 552-7583 customer-service number to listen to Ameren’s message to both its residential and business customers about continuance of service during this time.