This week, Utilities United Against Scams (UUAS) will support International Fraud Awareness Week and will recognize the eighth annual Utility Scam Awareness Day on Wednesday, November 15.
Utility Scam Awareness Day is an advocacy and awareness campaign focused on educating customers about and exposing scammer tactics.
Utility impostor scams
In recent years, utilities have seen increased reports of their customers/members being contacted by scammers who pose as utility workers in an attempt to access their financial information or to obtain immediate payment by threatening service interruptions. These are known as utility impostor scams. Examples include:
- Search engine scams: Scammers create fake sponsored utility payment pages on search engines like Google to trick customers. If they need to pay their utility bill and want to do so online, be sure to only visit the website listed on the utility bill. Check the URL and make sure it matches the URL on the bill.
- Mobile Payment app scams: Scammers tell customers to pay their utility bill through an instant mobile payment app like Zelle or Venmo. Remember that utilities will never ask them to pay their bill through a third-party app.
- Phishing/smishing: Scammers use phishing and smishing tactics over email and phone calls to trick customers. Phishing is when scammers send fraudulent emails disguised as utility emails to gain customers’ personal information or steal money. Smishing is short for SMS phishing, when fraudulent texts are sent. Always verify emails and texts are actually from the utility.
