WASHINGTON – Pepco and Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative are warning customers of phony calls aiming to scam customers out of their money.

Pepco says scammers are calling customers claiming to be with the power company and telling customers they need to buy a Green Dot MoneyPak pre-paid card to prevent their service from being shut off.

Pepco urges customers to verify whether the caller is affiliated with the power company. Pepco also reminds customers that it will never require a single form of payment, but provides multiple ways customers can pay their bill.

When in doubt, call the utility at 202-873-7500.

SMECO says its customers are being called and asked to hand over credit card or bank account information also to keep their power from being shut off.

A spokesperson says if a customer is unsure if the call is really from SMECO, hang up and call the utility provider at 1-888-440-3311.

Customers with past due payments will receive a pink termination notice in the mail. SMECO also calls customers if their payment is overdue.

A spokesman reminds consumers to never provide personal financial information or even their account information to unauthorized callers.

WTOP’s Thomas Warren contributed to this report. Follow @tewarren and @WTOP on Twitter.