NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- State officials are warning about a scam in which perpetrators offer to arrange payments of consumers' utility bills.

The Tennessee Regulatory Authority says scammers ask for Social Security numbers or other personal information. The scammers, in exchange, provide phony bank account numbers and bank routing numbers they say would be used to pay bills online.

Officials say the perpetrators tell people it's a special federal program to pay such bills. The bogus information is being disseminated through social media, email, text messages and in-person solicitations.

TRA chairman Kenneth Hill described the scammers as "bad actors in the marketplace."