Ameren Missouri warns southeast Missouri customers about scam attempts

FOX23 News at 9 p.m

ST. LOUIS (KBSI) — Ameren Missouri is urging customers in southeast Missouri to remain alert after reports of scam calls targeting businesses in the Dexter area.

Officials said several businesses were contacted by individuals falsely claiming to represent the utility and threatening service disconnections or planned outages.

“While reports have been limited, this serves as an important reminder for customers to stay vigilant and understand how Ameren Missouri communicates,” said Carlos Ross, the company’s security manager.

Ameren Missouri said it does not contact customers by phone, text or email to demand immediate payment, threaten disconnection or request payment through prepaid cards, wire transfers or payment apps.

Legitimate service notifications, including planned outages, are typically communicated through billing statements, mailed notices, text alerts, email notifications or recorded phone messages.

Customers who receive suspicious communications are advised not to share personal or financial information and to contact Ameren directly using the phone number on their bill or by visiting Ameren.com to verify account information.

Officials also encourage anyone who believes they may have been targeted by a scam to report it to local law enforcement.

More information about identifying and avoiding utility scams is available at Scam Awareness – Ameren.com.