Utility companies across the Midwest have formed a coalition to warn and educate their customers about a recent uptick in utility scams. Carrie Law is the Director of Communications and Government Relations for Sioux Valley Energy, a member of the new coalition. She says the scams they’ve been seeing all look very similar.

Law says some utilities have seen an increase of more than 300 percent in the number of customer scams in 2013 and consumers need to be alert.

She says that utility companies will almost always contact customers about payment information in written form, so any telephone or email notices about late payments should be questioned.