Unitil Corporation, (www.unitil.com), a provider of natural gas and electricity to customers in New England, is urging individuals to beware of a bait-and-switch campaign using the Company’s name.
Since Thursday, June 15, Unitil has received six separate instances of non-Unitil customers inquiring about letters mailed to them containing checks of $3,776.25. The letters claim “Unitil” is a “Secret Shopper” business offering employment to the recipient. To enroll, the customer is asked to wire approximately $2,000 to an unlisted account and use the remaining amount of the bogus check to shop at businesses and review their customer service.
These letters appear to have been sent to parts of the country that may be unfamiliar that Unitil is a gas and electric utility; individuals from Georgia, South Carolina and Florida have reached out thus far inquiring about the mailing. Unitil customers do not appear to be directly impacted by the scam.
“These checks are clearly counterfeit and not actually withdrawing money from Unitil accounts, but we are concerned people unfamiliar with Unitil may fall for this and wire their own money to these scammers,” Unitil Media Relations Manager Alec O’Meara said. “To be clear, Unitil is not in the ‘secret shopper’ business, nor would we ask individuals to wire money to an undisclosed third party.”
Unitil is reaching out to state and federal law enforcement officials to notify them of the scam. Any individual who receives a letter claiming Unitil is asking them to shop at Sears, Best Buy or other businesses on the company’s behalf are urged to contact their local law enforcement agency.
For more information on scam safety please visit: www.unitil.com/beaware
