The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office has received word of a new scam circulating in our area.

A representative of Chelco said a customer was contacted by telephone recently by someone claiming to be with the utility company.

The customer was told his account was overdue and he needed to make a payment immediately to avoid having his power disconnected. The caller then requested the customer's credit card number.

Chelco does not take credit card information over the phone and does not make personal phone calls reference payments.

The customer said he received a similar call two days later from someone claiming to be from another utility company, but using the same scheme to acquire financial information.