Tyler Water Utilities warns of scam callers

TYLER — Tyler Water Utilities has been notified of a man and woman who have been calling local hotels claiming they are representatives of the Tyler Water Business Office and requesting payment. The callers state the hotels have 60 gallons of water left to use and need to pay $7,500 by Venmo, Cash App, or Zelle to keep their service on. They also claim their meters were changed out and to keep them, the hotel must make this payment. The caller then states they will give them a bank code to make the payment and then they will need to call back with a confirmation number. The female is using the name Amy Diaz.

The caller ID shows the City of Tyler, although this is not a City of Tyler phone line or representative. As of right now, we are aware that five hotels have been contacted: La Quinta on Loop 323, Hilton on Grande Avenue, Summit Hotel on Heritage Drive, Homewood Suites on Golden Road, and Magnuson Grand on Troup Hwy.

Residents and businesses should be aware that the Tyler Water Business Office will never contact them for payment of fines and will never request payment through apps such as Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, etc. All payments should be made to the Tyler Water Business Office directly through the online portal, at the various payment kiosks, or in person at the office. You should never share personal information (i.e. address, social security number, credit card number, etc.) over the phone.

Tyler Police detectives are investigating this case. Anyone with information about this suspect is urged to contact the Tyler Police non-emergency number at (903) 531-1000.