KUB has received notification from local restaurants that someone called claiming to be from KUB to say they owe money on their account. The caller asked for customers to purchase MoneyPaks or Green Dot Cards in specified amounts, giving detailed explanations of how the MoneyPaks and Green Dot Cards are used, and threatened to cut off the customer's power if payment wasn't made. This is a scam. 

The imposter is requesting that the business owners provide the serial numbers of the MoneyPaks or Green Dot Cards once purchased, which enables the imposters to collect the money.  Although these cards can be purchased from reputable merchants who are not associated with the scam, the cards are often untraceable. 

The scam is targeting local restaurants in downtown Knoxville, but KUB wants to remind all customers to be aware that these scammers can and do target business and residential customers alike, and will change their targets and tactics frequently. 

"We urge customers who receive calls of this nature to never provide financial information," said Dale Grubbs, KUB Customer Service. "KUB never transacts payments over the phone or sends e-mails asking for financial information, and we do not request payments via prepaid cards, or collect payments at businesses or homes." 

If there are questions about your account status or if you feel you are the target of a scam, call KUB at 865-524-2911. If you feel you have been victimized, you should also contact your local law enforcement agency's non-emergency number to report the scam attempt. 

KUB is a municipal utility serving Knox and parts of seven adjacent counties and provides electric, gas, water, and wastewater services to more than 445,000 customers.

More about KUB available at www.kub.org.