A nationwide email scam is targeting utility customers, including electric cooperative members, by sending bogus invoices directing them to a virus-infected site.
Fake electric utility invoices with malware links are hitting customers’ inboxes. (Photo By: iStock Photo)
No co-op members appear to have been bilked, but members and employees of Hancock-Wood Electric Co-op in North Baltimore, Ohio, have reported receiving emails followed by phone calls.
The scam emails claimed to be from PGE Energy, an electric and gas utility in San Francisco. News reports from several states also cited Atmos Energy, a natural gas utility in Dallas, as the supposed source.
The fraudulent billing message tells customers that their Atmos or PGE bill is ready and provides a hyperlink to view it. And that’s where the trouble begins.
“Reports say the link takes a person to a site that infects their device with malware. The malware could go after banking information or attempt to steal usernames and passwords,” said Diana Hersch, director of marketing and communications at Hancock-Wood.
Better Business Bureaus around the country are seeing big increases in phony utility company invoices, according to an official at a BBB serving northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan.
Other co-ops in Ohio and at least one in Florida have warned members about the email scam in recent days. The co-ops are advising members to ignore suspicious requests for personal information, such as bank account numbers, credit card numbers, and user names and passwords. Members are also advised to delete those emails.
Hersch said Hancock-Wood received reports about the emails at about the same time the local BBB issued an alert.
“Our members are pretty savvy, and some told us some funny stories about how the bogus utility responded to their scrutiny,” said Hersch. “The best story out of this was when one member was asked to pay by a bogus company. She boldly stated, ‘My electric utility is Hancock-Wood, who are you guys?’ They promptly hung up.”
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Tags: Crime