Statewide crime alert: We Energies customers targeted in pre-paid debit card scam

MILWAUKEE --  The Wisconsin Department of Justice released a report on Wednesday, September 16th saying more than 700 Wisconsin residents have been targeted by a prepaid card scam, costing them $18,000. It's a scam one West Bend business owner fell for, but one he says he hopes people learn from.

Wes Krimmer

As an executive chef who just opened up his own restaurant in West Bend, Wes Krimmer was focused on the Friday night rush, and not expecting a strange call.

"Just want to inform you that we've given you two notices now of late payment on your We Energies bills," Krimmer said he heard on the phone, "And we're going to be turning your gas and electric off in about a half hour."

He knew he didn't miss a payment, but he didn't have time to double check and the power had to stay on.

"Never once thought it was not We Energies. How professional this guy was instructing me on what needed to be done," Krimmer said.

Krimmer offered to pay by credit card or cash - but he was told those services were closed now. They would only accept payment from a prepaid "reload it" card. The scammer told him how to do it and in less than fifteen minutes, $1,000 was gone.

Reloadit scam

Cathy Schulze with We Energies says this scam has been around since at least 2012.

"We think it's gone away, but it always manages to resurface. These scammers are very persistent. Just within the past month so far in September, we've had 80 customers call to report this type of suspicious activity," said Schulze.

We Energies

Schulze said We Energies officials would never call you and try to extort you into paying by demanding you load money onto a prepaid card. That is a lesson the Krimmers want to share.

"We have to let other people know what happened to us. Yes, it's embarrassing and it's really unfortunate, and we'll never forget that this happened to us," said Krimmer.

If you are ever worried that a call from We Energies is a scam, Schulze says you should hang up immediately, and then call We Energies 24/7 customer service line at 1-800-242-9137.

They will be able to verify your account for you at anytime, and you can also help We Energies stay ahead of any potential scammers.