Dayton Power and Light has received an increased number of reports from customers about payment scams in which calls are made that appear to come from DP&L and indicate service will be discontinued if the customer does not call back within an hour with payment.

DP&L reminds customers not to provide personal info or payments unless confident the call is from DP&L. This means customers should hang up from such calls, then phone DP&L at 800-433-8500 to ask if DP&L actually called about a bill or other matter. Customers also can check their account status online by signing into mydpandl.com

Three common scams involve: threats of disconnection if payment not received immediately; direction to send pre-paid debit card to pay a bill or to replace dangerous equipment; calls to businesses during peak hours to catch workers off guard to gain account info and threaten a power shut-off.

Scammers usually have a bit of info about a customer in order to gain more info to access bank accounts and/or credit card numbers. Scammers use email, social media, phones and door-to-door visits.

This is an industry-wide problem across the country.

For more info about protecting against scams, visit dpandl.com/scam