ST. LOUIS, Jan. 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- A rash of scams are using the Ameren name to dupe consumers nationwide into paying bogus energy bills. Scammers are sending spoofed emails that appear to be requests from Ameren asking recipients to pay unpaid utility bills. Recipients also are being instructed to open a virus-infected attachment. Ameren has received calls from residents of several states, including Missouri and Illinois, who have been targeted in the scam. Other utilities throughout the country have reported experiencing a similar email scam.
"Ameren is investigating the situation and working to resolve the issue," says Tim Reagan, director of Security at Ameren. "If anyone receives this type of email, they should not open any attachments, and should delete the email message immediately." Reagan added that unless specific information has been requested by a customer, Ameren does not include attachments in its customer emails.
Ameren reminds customers to never give personal or financial information to anyone who calls, sends an email or comes to their homes unannounced. Customers with concerns about their accounts should call Ameren Missouri at 800.552.7583 or Ameren Illinois at 800.755.5000.
For more information, visit Ameren.com.
St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation powers the quality of life for 2.4 million electric customers and more than 900,000 natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area through its Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois rate-regulated utility subsidiaries. Ameren Illinois provides electric and natural gas delivery service while Ameren Missouri provides vertically integrated electric service, with generating capacity of 10,300 megawatts, and natural gas delivery service. Ameren Transmission of Illinois develops regional electric transmission projects. Follow us on Twitter @AmerenCorp. For more information, visit Ameren.com.
SOURCE Ameren Corporation