Utilities urge vigilance for all as part of National Consumer Protection Week
Given that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported consumer losses of more than $5.8 billion last year due to fraud, the nation’s utilities once again caution all customers to watch for scams and other threats during National Consumer Protection Week, which runs through March 12.
According to the FTC, the number of scam attempts is rising, though their efforts change with time. Protection of personal information is key, and utilities warned that scammers can be aggressive in their tactics to get it: intimidation, impersonation, and puffing up their credibility with publicly sourced information are all possibilities.
“PG&E would like to remind customers if you ever receive a call threatening disconnection if you do not make immediate payment, hang up and either call PG&E to confirm your account details or log onto your account on PGE.com,” Chris Zenner, vice president of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) residential services and digital channels, said. “Remember, PG&E will never ask for you for your financial information over the phone or via email, nor will we request payment via prepaid debit cards or other payment services like Zelle.”
PG&E reported more than 11,000 reports of scam attempts last year, along with fraudulent payments costing customers nearly $600,000. Many more, the company warned, go unreported. Worse: that high level of threat has continued into 2022, with PG&E reporting another 1,055 scam attempts in January alone, costing customers another more than $65,000.
Such is the reason the FTC invented National Consumer Protection Week in the first place, as an effort to get out the word and draw attention to crime. Different utilities have taken different approaches to this. In the case of Louisville Gas and Electric Company, Kentucky Utilities Company, and Old Dominion Power, they offered seven tips for customers to follow to better protect themselves, under the acronym PROTECT:
- Personal information protections: LG&E, KU and ODP will never contact customers and demand credit or debit card numbers, checking account information, or other personal information.
- Remember bill payment options: LG&E, KU and ODP will never require using a prepaid debit/gift card or ask a customer to transfer money to a third-party app.
- Observe intimidation tactics: Scammers may threaten service disconnection if a payment isn’t received within a short amount of time. LG&E, KU and ODP will never demand an immediate payment or threaten service disconnection.
- Take time: Speed benefits the scammers. Slow and stop the interaction. Confirm communications through official channels.
- Enlist the help of law enforcement: Customers who suspect they have been victims of fraud or who feel threatened during contact with scammers should report it to their local police department and contact their utility.
- Check: Customers who receive a suspicious live phone call, email, text message, letter, or in-person visit should contact their utility directly to verify official communications or in-person service visits.
- Track and save official contact channels: Keep utilities’ official phone numbers, website addresses, and other contact channels. Scammers may attempt to mask a utility’s phone number, call from a different number or ask the customer to “press 1” to collect personal or payment information. Note any information the scammers themselves provide.
From Tampa Electric, warnings took the form of spelling out many of the scams these criminals have attempted. The company – which noted scam-related losses for customers of approximately $88,000 in 2021 – emphasized that scammers feed on distraction and push harder during holidays, busy times, and crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. They also like to target those for whom English is a second language.
According to Tampa Electric, some of these scams have included impersonations of Tampa Electric representatives to demand immediate payment for supposedly past due accounts, spoofed calls, and demands for money orders or prepaid debit cards ASAP to avoid disconnection. In the latter case, some have even gone so far as to discourage customers from mentioning to shop clerks that such a purchase is for a utility payment. During the pandemic, when fears about going out were at a national high, scammers also turned to phone apps and cryptocurrency to get payments.
The company has worked with federal officials to shut down nearly 50 scam phone numbers in the past year alone, but more keep cropping up. It also emphasized that all Tampa Electric employees are required to carry photo ID cards and, like most utilities, do not accept payments through mobile apps or cryptocurrency.
While senior citizens and low-income communities are prime targets, scammers also tend to target small business owners, according to PG&E.
