PINEVILLE, La. – Cleco cautions customers to be aware of fraudulent calls demanding payment of electric bills through a money transfer agency or face disconnection of power.

"Cleco does not request payment of electric bills through certain payment methods," said Shirley Turner, general manager of customer experience management for Cleco. "Some customers have reported that the caller told them where to submit their payment. How and where a customer chooses to pay his or her bill is up to that customer."

Cleco urges all customers to be alert for these types of calls. In certain cases, Cleco may make a courtesy call to a customer before disconnecting power. However, Cleco does not take payments over the phone during these calls or suggest payment methods or locations for payment.

If Cleco customers have questions regarding the validity of a call, they should contact Cleco at 1-800-622-6537 before completing a payment transaction.

Cleco advises customers never to provide personal information such as Social Security, banking or credit card information to an unknown person or entity.