Scammers fake PG&E caller ID, fooling customers by phone, California utility warns
Northern California authorities and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. are warning of a growing scam that is targeting utility customers.
Criminal phone scammers are calling ratepayers and threatening to shut off their power if the person answering the phone doesn’t agree to make a payment on an overdue utility bill, PG&E said in an alert warning customers about the scam on Monday.
“They are also disguising their true phone numbers with a caller ID that says ‘PG&E’ or ‘Pacific Gas & Electric,’ ” PG&E staff warned in the alert.
According to PG&E, “There have been double the number of scam attempts, in some areas, compared to this time last year” — including “several reports in the past few weeks regarding scammers requesting payment on past due utility bills immediately with a cash card.”
The company said most of the scam calls have targeted Marin, Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino and Humboldt counties, but the Napa County District Attorney’s Office is warning of the phone scam as well, the Napa Valley Register reported Wednesday.
“In the past, we’ve seen scammers demanding payment be made using a Green Dot card or Money Pack, but now we’re seeing these criminals requesting payment with a gift card. This should raise a red flag,” Kevin Cashman, PG&E security investigator for the North Bay and North Coast, said in a statement released by the utility.
Petaluma police in Sonoma County warned in a Facebook post last week that local authorities have received several reports of scammers who “are demanding credit card payment or power will be shut off immediately. This is most likely a scam to steal personal information. If you have billing questions call your power company directly.”
A PG&E spokesperson said on Twitter that the number of scam calls has ticked up throughout the San Francisco Bay area.
PG&E warned that scammers are getting more elaborate and detailed, including “specific names of customers, and in some cases, guessing general dollar amounts owed.”
According to the struggling utility — which filed for bankruptcy last year after its equipment was implicated in deadly wildfires — other tactics that scammers might deploy include:
Notifying residents that they are eligible for a federal tax refund related to their utility bill;
Trying to sell services related to solar evaluation;
Claiming to represent a PG&E initiative to sell a product in order to gain access to their home.
PG&E advised customers that its “credit department will not ask for personal information or a credit card number over the phone. Anyone who has received such a phone call and provided credit card or checking account information should report it immediately to the credit card company or bank and law enforcement.”
The company said customers worried a scam call is targeting them can call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000 to double check.
“Customers should always ask to see identification before allowing anyone claiming to be a PG&E representative inside their home,” the company said in its alert this week. “PG&E employees always carry their identification and are willing to show it to you.”
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 1:11 PM with the headline "Scammers fake PG&E caller ID, fooling customers by phone, California utility warns."
