Email claims Obama paying electric bills

CINCINNATI - People across the Cincinnati area and the country are receiving an offer to help pay their summer electric bills.

It sounds like the latest government stimulus program, and couldn't be more timely, given our recent string of 100-degree days.

Unfortunately, it's really a dangerous identity theft scam.

The Better Business Bureau is now warning about what it calls the "President Obama Utility Bill Scam."

Calls, viral e-mails, and social media messages claim the government is providing help with summer electric bills. It often invokes the name of President Obama.

Why people are falling for It

To sign up, you need to submit your Social Security and bank routing number. You then receive a new routing number to use to pay your bill by phone. So it appears the payment goes through.

But a few days later, you learn your payment was never submitted.

Many people are falling for it, because they are receiving the message from friends who have already submitted their info. 

So there is an element of trust to this scam, unlike e-mails from princes and other obvious scammers. However, there is no such program to help pay your bills.

As always, don't waste your money.
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