Evergy is warning customers about two recent scam attempts that were made against customers.   People posing as Evergy employees have tried to get financial information from customers.

One targets senior citizens, with the scammers claiming Evergy is returning $200 to senior citizens through the company’s Evergy Cares Kansas Fund, then asking for customers’ account information, address, and other personal information.   Evergy officials said this is not how the program works.  The Evergy Cares Kansas Fund does not give customers cash; it provides financial assistance directly to the customers’ account, but customers must initiate contact with Evergy first.

The second recent scam focuses on discounts. Scammers call customers claiming that Evergy could offer a discount if the customer provides their credit card number over the phone immediately.

While Evergy offers customer programs and works with organizations that offer financial assistance, any call, text, or email a customer receives offering a straight discount is likely fraud. Evergy is regulated by state commissions in Kansas and Missouri, and the company has to go through a detailed and thorough process with each state commission to make any changes to rates or to gain approval of special programs.

Evergy has tips for consumers to avoid such scam attempts:

• Verify the person you are engaging with is an Evergy employee. Ask to see company identification before giving any financial or personal information to anyone who comes to your home, calls, texts and/or sends an email requesting this information about your utility bill. If you can’t verify that you are speaking to an Evergy employee, do not give them this information.

• Be suspicious if you receive an email or text regarding your utility bill if you have not requested online communications from Evergy.

• For customers using Evergy’s online bill pay system, always make online payments directly through www.evergy.com.   Go directly to the site instead of using search engines.

• Never provide personal information via email or click any suspicious links. Even if caller ID says a phone call is from Evergy, it could be a scammer. If something seems suspicious, hang up and check the account online or call the customer service number on your Evergy bill.

• Employees will carry Evergy employee identification. For a service appointment, they may be driving an Evergy vehicle or wearing Evergy-branded clothing. Evergy does not perform door-to-door sales and employees rarely need to enter a customer’s home.

• Customers can also review their account status online by visiting www.evergy.com.

Customers can report scams to Evergy through the web site www.evergy.com/reportscam and they should contact local law enforcement if they feel they have been the victim of a scam.