San Diego Gas & Electric Warns Of New Wave Of Payment Scams

SAN DIEGO, CA — As part of Utility Scam Awareness Week, San Diego Gas & Electric urged the public Tuesday to beware of scams that exploit people's reliance on essential services to cheat them out of money.

SDG&E customers have reported more than 25,000 such crimes so far this year — nearly 80 per day — according to the utility company.

"Scammers target our customers year-round, but we want everyone to be even more vigilant during these unprecedented times, as new waves of scams have emerged amid the COVID-19 pandemic," the company warned. "With more people staying at home or possibly facing financial difficulty, scammers try to take advantage of the situation."

If a caller claims to work for SDG&E and asks for payment over the telephone, it is a scam, according to the company. SDG&E urged customers to only provide financial information by phone if they initiated the call themselves.

One common tactic of utility scammers is one in which they pose as employees of a government or state agency and threaten to cut off service unless they get immediate payment, according to SDG&E.

Another involves scammers impersonating a utility's billing department and asking for payment via Green Dot MoneyPak, a way of sending cash via prepaid or debit cards. Known as the "Pay by Phone" or "Green Dot" scam, the crime also centers on threats of immediate power shutoffs to scare customers into making bogus "payments."

Once victims purchase the debit cards, or make wire transfers based on the scammers' instructions, they are asked to call another phone number to provide the card information, which allows the perpetrators to steal the money.

In some cases, a phone number provided by the scammers plays a recorded message and menu options that mimic SDG&E's official customer service line, which is 800-411-7343. When victims call the number, they may hear a recorded message that tells them they are calling SDG&E's business line and gives them menu options, including paying their bills or reporting a gas leak or power outage.

"Customers should know that SDG&E does not ask (them) to pay using methods such as Green Dot MoneyPak or cryptocurrency," the company advised.

"Additionally, SDG&E will never proactively contact customers requesting their credit card, banking or other financial information or threaten immediate disconnection. Even if you have a past-due balance that needs to be paid, we will always provide past-due notices in writing before shutting off service and offer payment plan options."

SDG&E has implemented protections for customers who are struggling to pay their bills amid the pandemic, including flexible payment plans for up to 12 months, suspending disconnections for nonpayment and waiving late fees for businesses.

According to the utility, SDG&E will never:

If you believe you might have been a victim of fraud, please call us immediately at 1-800-411-7343 to report it. You can also follow these additional tips to avoid becoming a victim of utility scams.

• Call a customer to ask for payment information. Customers may receive communications directing them to pay their bill via their MyAccount at sdge.com, use the Billmatrix system, or to call and use the automated pay-by-phone option at 800-411-7343.
• Request that a customer use prepaid debit cards for payments or cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin to pay their bill.
• Send emails with an online payment method with a QR barcode.

Call SDG&E at 800-411-7343 if you believe you have been the victim of a scam.