Mason City police warn about phone scam

MASON CITY — Mason City police say there’s another phone scam going around in the community. The department’s Mike McKelvey says a Mason City business got a phone call on Monday with the correct Alliant Energy company phone number spoofed on the caller ID. A recorded message stated that Alliant had the business on a disconnect notice and that action needed to be taken to avoid an interruption in utility services.

The recorded prompt stated that a representative of the utility company had received the order to disconnect in 30 minutes and that they should call a toll-free number to make payment arrangements to the delinquent account.

The business did not call the fake phone number. McKelvey says they called the number and spoke to someone, and when asked to identify where their office was, the person hung up. McKelvey says people should avoid giving out any personal or payment information over the phone to unsolicited callers or emails, especially if there’s pressure or urgency attached.

He says you should contact your local affiliated representative, look up the business customer service number and call yourself. Police say once you give out your personal information over the phone, or do a wire transfer, it’s too late to stop the transaction.