Ameren warning of a scam

Ameren officials issued a statement Wednesday morning that a scam is impacting their customers in Missouri in an effort to illegally obtain their Social Security numbers.

According to Ameren, the scam claims President Barack Obama is applying payments or credits of up to $1,500 to the customer's utility bill.

This is false.

The scam calls for customers to make a payment "today" by using a bank routing number supplied by the scammers, and the number appearing on the back of their Social Security cards as the bank account number.

The bank routing number is fraudulent and cannot be used to pay a utility bill.

According to reports, scammers have visited customers in person, posted fliers and used social media and texting to send this false message.

"We have identified customer accounts that may have been scammed by these identity thieves and are notifying them." said Carole Hunt, assistant treasurer, Ameren Services.

If an Ameren customer has recently made a transaction like this, they are urged to call customer service, which for Missouri customers is 800-552-7583.

If a caller claims to be an Ameren representative and asks for immediate payment over the phone or requests other personal information, company officials say customers should hang up and call their local law enforcement agencies, then call the company's customer service number.

Company officials also noted that photo identification is carried by every Ameren employee and includes name, employee number and an official Ameren logo.