APS customers across Arizona are being targeted by individuals falsely representing themselves by phone as APS employees.

Scammers are instructing potential victims to call a toll-free number to pay their electric bills and threaten to have services shut off within a short time. The toll-free number recording sounds like an actual APS Customer Care Center recording. Customers calling this false number are given an option to pay a bill by phone, after which an individual picking up the phone asks how they can help, much like an actual customer service agent would do.

When a potential fraud victim questions the fake APS employee, the response is rude and disconnects the call -- the same tactics used by scammers last year.

APS is working with local law enforcement and the FBI to apprehend those responsible.

APS offers the following suggestions to help prevent fraud: only call APS numbers listed on the phone bill or the APS website; immediately call APS Customer Care Center at 602-371-7171 to verify the validity of any suspicious emails, calls or websites; recognize the signs of "phishing" -- mismatched fonts, poor grammar and spelling or missing hyperlinks; and never share your credit card information with an unverified entity.

Customers paying via credit card on www.aps.com will be redirected to the KUBRA EZ-Pay website, which requires entering a “captcha” validation code. Any other credit card payment site claiming to process APS payments should not be trusted.