Criminals Target Utility Customers
Owensboro Municipal Utilities works diligently to protect your billing and account information. However, criminals have been known to target utility customers directly, presenting themselves as OMU employees or workers for other local entities.
To protect yourself from such scams, please know:
- OMU will never ask for vital personal information over the phone and will only take credit card information when you want to pay by phone.
- If you’re unsure if a call is actually coming from OMU (as scammers can often confuse your caller ID systems), please ask for the employee’s name, hang up and call OMU’s Customer Service Center at 270-926-3200 and ask for that employee.
- OMU employees carry proper ID and will be glad to show that identification upon entering your yard or approaching your home or business.
- OMU field personnel also drive clearly marked vehicles.
- Our workers in the field will never ask for a credit card.
- Do not share your account number, banking information or other customer information if you cannot verify the caller or visitor is an OMU employee.
- If you are unsure that someone is an OMU employee, ask for their identification and do not let them into your home. Call our Customer Service Center at 270-926-3200 and confirm their information.
- The Federal Trade Commission provides useful information on avoiding all types of scams.
Identity Protection
At OMU, it is our job to provide quality utility services at the most economical cost. It is also our duty to work with you to protect your identity and provide you with peace of mind.
In order to comply with the federal Fair and Accurate Transaction Act (FACTA), our customers are required to verify their identity for instance, when signing up for or transferring any utility service.1
Please understand that when we ask for qualifying forms of identification,2 we are not only meeting the requirements of FACTA, we are also protecting your identity.
If you have additional questions regarding FACTA or identification requirements, please contact us.
1. OMU requires identification anytime service is established, as well as, when there is an additional need to verify identity such as when releasing a refund check, providing sensitive information or when making a payment with a credit card.
2. Identification bearing a photograph: which shall be a U.S. government identification issued by a state evidencing residence, U.S. government Military Identification, U.S. government issued Visa or Permanent Resident Card, U.S. or foreign country passport, and Mexico’s Consular Identification card. Identification cannot be expired.