We all hate getting those pesky phone, cable and utility bills.  They're just a reminder that no matter how much money we make, someone else gets to have some of it.  While it could be satisfying to merely shred the bill and have it out of sight and out of mind, a call we received today in our office proves once again that you need to keep those bills around to keep you out of scams.

A woman called us saying she was contacted by a "Supervisor Executive" in regards to her cable bill and demanded payment over the phone.  This "Supervisor Executive" unfortunately had this woman's checking account number but strangely not her cable service account number.  You would think it would be the opposite.  Even when threatened that her cable would be shut off, the woman did not give any information over the phone to this representative luckily.

The thing to take away from this is that if you keep your bill history, no scammer calling you about missed payments or threats to turn off any of your utilities will have a leg to stand on and you can feel secure knowing you won't be affected.  Remember that if a big company like Austin Utilities or Time Warner Cable or T-Mobile calls you and you have caller ID, it shouldn't say "private number" and they should have your account information on hand and not need you to verify it.