MICHIGAN — The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) recently released information on how consumers can protect their privacy and prevent utility fraud. 

According to LARA, consumers should never give out personal information, including financial account numbers or social security numbers, over the phone or Internet to someone they do not know. If a call is received from someone, claiming to be that person’s utility company and the person feels pressured to provide immediate payment or personal information, they are instructed to hang up the phone and call the customer service number on their utility bill. 

Many local Arab American-owned businesses have lost large sums of money recently to people, posing as DTE Energy representatives, who have tricked them into making payments over the phone, or who have visited their businesses and claimed that they had overdue bills that needed to be paid immediately, or services would be cut off.