Austin Energy, a public utility that provides electric power to the city of Austin, Texas, and surrounding areas, issued a warning revealing that unknown individuals have been impersonating it and threatening customers over the phone with power cuts if they don’t pay alleged past-due bills. In this scam, scammers warn customers that their utilities will be disconnected if they don’t make immediate payments, typically using a reloadable prepaid debit card or other untraceable payment method.
Austin Energy said in its warning: “Scammers are trying to take advantage of our customers after the winter storm, telling them that their power will be shut off within 30-60 minutes if payment is not made immediately. We do not shut off power and have not done so since March 2020.”
Additionally, Austin Energy emphasized that it will never call its residential customers to inform them of urgent deadlines, ask for credit card or wire transfer information, or ask them to pay past-due bills using untraceable payment methods, such as cryptocurrency or gift cards.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also warned on February 22 about scammers taking advantage of the current extreme weather events to steal money and personal information from company customers.
As BleepingComputer reports, to identify and protect themselves from such fraud attempts, Austin Energy customers are advised to take the following steps:
- If you receive a call, thank the caller and hang up. Never call a number that leads to an answering machine, text, or email. Instead, contact the utility company directly using the number on your bill or website . Verify that the message came from them.
- If you receive a call out of the blue and the caller claims you need to pay an overdue bill to avoid having services , never give out banking information over the phone. To pay your bill over the phone, always call a number you know is legitimate.
- Utility companies do not ask for payment information via email, text, or phone. They also will not force you to pay over the phone by telling you it is your only option.
- If the caller tells you to pay with a gift card, cash reload card, money transfer, or cryptocurrency, it's a scam. Every time. No matter what they say.
This warning comes after multiple power outages across Texas, following a winter storm that led to the collapse of the state's electrical grid and water systems.
However, while Texas power plants are now online ,more than 300,000 households are still left in the dark and cold, as Texas Governor Greg Abbott reported on February 21.
