INDIANAPOLIS -- Scammers are putting a new twist on an old scheme designed to scare you into paying them. The old “unpaid utility bill” scam has been around for a long time.  It started with phone calls, then emails and text messages. Now, according to the Scamicide Scam-of-the-Day blog, the bad guys are incorporating QR codes into the scheme. The modern version of this scheme starts with a phone call. The crook, posing as a utility company representative, says you have an unpaid electric bill, or water bill, or something similar.  They threaten to turn off your service if the balance isn’t paid. Then, they send a text message that contains a QR code that will instruct you to go to the nearest Walmart, or Walgreens or CVS to wire them the money. While the QR code in the message might make the whole think look more legitimate, there are a couple red flags to spot here. Scammers love using payment methods that you can’t reverse, like wiring money and gift cards.  No legitimate utility company would encourage you to go to CVS in order to wire your bill payment. QR codes can also take you to bogus websites that may look like a utility company, but will simply funnel your payment to the scammer and possibly record your bank or credit card numbers. Also, don’t be fooled by the phone number that looks like the scammer is calling from your utility company. Crooks have gotten very good at “spoofing” their phone numbers to make their call appear local, even if it’s coming from the other side of the globe. The best thing to do is hang up and call your utility company back and ask about any outstanding balance you may or may not have. Scamicide also recommends checking out companies like Kaspersky that have free QR code scanner apps.  The apps will not only scan the QR code, but also let you know if it is legitimate and prevent the downloading of malware from bogus QR codes.