Information provided by PG&E. Lea este articulo en español aquí.
During 2024, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) customers lost nearly $650,000 to utility scammers. To help combat this alarming trend, PG&E is joining the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to help customers recognize and avoid potential scams during National Consumer Protection Week from March 2-8, 2025.
Scams targeting utility customers continue at an alarming rate. In fact, during 2024, PG&E received over 26,000 reports from customers who were targeted by scammers impersonating the company, and customers lost $646,000 in fraudulent payments.
Unfortunately, this number is likely just the tip of the iceberg for overall scam attempts, as many go unreported. The number of reports is continuing at a high level thus far in 2025, s PG&E received over 1,700 reports of attempted scams in January alone, with customers paying scammers nearly $22,000 during the month.
Central Coast Scams 2024:
San Benito County- 40 reported scams, all of them in Hollister.
Monterey County- 252 reported scams. The majority in Salinas (148), Monterey (30) and
Seaside (24).
Santa Cruz County- 228 reported scams. The majority in cities like Santa Cruz (101) and
Watsonville (88).
“Scammers pray on fear and urgency, but knowledge is your best defense. PG&E is committed to empowering our customers with the tools to recognize fraud and protect their hard-earned money. If something doesn’t feel right, trust your instincts—verity before you pay”, said Teresa Alvarado, vice president for PG&E’s South Bay and Central Coast Region.
Scammers are opportunistic. They take advantage of customers who may be distracted or stressed and continuously contact customers asking for payment to avoid immediate service disconnection. Remember, PG&E will never call for the first time within one hour of a service disconnection, nor will we ask customers to make payments with a pre-paid debit card, gift card, any form of cryptocurrency, or third-party digital payment mobile applications like Zelle or Venmo.
Small and medium-sized businesses are also a target, and scammers will focus their efforts during busy business hours, preying on business owners’ sense of urgency to keep the doors open and the lights on. In fact, PG&E received over 1,200 reports of scam attempts targeting these customers during 2024.
Signs of a potential scam:
Threat to disconnect: Scammers may aggressively demand immediate payment for an alleged past due bill.
Request for immediate payment: Scammers may instruct the customer to purchase a prepaid card then call them back supposedly to make a bill payment.
Request for prepaid card: When the customer calls back, the caller asks the customer for the prepaid card’s number, which grants the scammer instant access to the card’s funds.
Refund or rebate offers: Scammers may say that your utility company overbilled you and owes you a refund, or that you are entitled to a rebate.
How customers can protect themselves
Customers should never purchase a prepaid card to avoid service disconnection or shutoff.
PG&E does not specify how customers should make a bill payment and offers a variety of ways to pay a bill, including accepting payments online, by phone, automatic bank draft, mail or in person.
If a scammer threatens immediate disconnection or shutoff of service without prior notification, customers should hang up the phone, delete the email, or shut the door. Customers with delinquent accounts receive an advance disconnection notification, typically by mail and included with their regular monthly bill.
Signing up for an online account at pge.com is another safeguard. Not only can customers log in to check their balance and payment history, they can sign up for recurring payments, paperless billing and helpful alerts.
Scammers Impersonating Trusted Phone Numbers and Websites: Scammers are now able to create authentic-looking 800 numbers which appear on your phone display. The numbers don’t lead back to PG&E if called back, however, so if you have doubts, hang up and call PG&E at 1-833-500-SCAM. If customers ever feel that they are in physical danger, they should call 911.
A recent trend is that scammers are creating fake utility bill-pay websites that appear in internet search results. For online payments, customers should log into pge.com, and either log into your account or create one to pay your bill.
Customers who suspect that they have been victims of fraud, or who feel threatened during contact with one of these scammers, should contact local law enforcement. The Federal Trade Commission’s website is also a good source of information about how to protect personal information.
For more information about scams, visit pge.com/scams or consumer.ftc.org.
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