WARNING: Georgia Power says bill payment scam is targeting customers

ATLANTA — With the hot temperatures we've been having this week, imagine if you got a call saying that your power will be shut off in 30 minutes.

We talked to a Georgia Power spokesperson Thursday afternoon who said the calls like this are a scam.

On Tuesday, it was 100 degrees when Susan Douglas got a call saying she had 30 minutes to pay her Georgia Power bill, or they company would shut off her power.

"They advised me to come to a Georgia Power kiosk to make the payment while I was on the phone with them," Douglas said.

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The caller told her to bring cash to the machine on Cumberland Boulevard that they said was a Georgia Power kiosk. But all Douglas saw was a Bitcoin machine with nothing written on it about Georgia Power.

"There were lots of red flags, you know? And I just kind of slowed down for a moment and had my 'Aha,'" Douglas said.

"We're not going to send you to an anonymous machine and ask you to deposit money and then take it from there. We just don't do that," said Georgia Power spokesperson Craig Bell.

Bell said the company has some remote payment locations, but they are in stores such as Kroger or Walmart and that they would give you a receipt.

He said the other big red flag is the threatening phone call.

"Georgia Power would not call someone and say your bill is overdue, and we're going to cut off your power in 30 minutes? Absolutely no. We understand that sometimes customers, get behind. We make arrangements with all of our customers at one point or another," Bell said.

Cox Media Group