Southern California Edison (SCE) has been warning customers that there have been multiple scammers pretending to be them and to be wise not to fall for the bait. 

Con artists are clever and always changing, looking for new methods to deceive you and steal your money. 

Scammers may notify you by phone, email or text message telling you that your balance is past-due and that your service will be instantly canceled if you don’t click the link.

“Anyone phoning you, claiming to be from Southern California Edison and threatening to shut off your power for nonpayment is scamming you,” said Randy White, SCE’s manager of Physical Security Operations. “SCE will never phone you to threaten disconnection and demand immediate payment.”

SCE urges everyone to be aware of scams and if something seems off about a call, email or text contact SCE directly to verify.

When dealing with phone scammers, know that they use forceful strategies and the uncertainty that comes from being caught off guard, according to SCE.

 If you start to ask questions, scammers will frequently put pressure on you, leaving clients with little time to consider or to check their claims. 

If a caller seems agitated, annoyed, or impatient when you question their authority, proceed with caution. 

“The best way for customers to protect themselves against energy company phone scams is to educate themselves, their families and their friends about being aware when they receive telephone calls from individuals claiming to be with SCE demanding money for payment,” said White.

A legitimate SCE person will allow you to contact the number on your bill for your own peace of mind, while a scammer will dissuade you from doing so.

Spammers may send spam emails that seem official by using fake addresses, trademarks, logos, website links, and phrasing. 

You run the risk of unintentionally downloading malware to your computer if you click on attachments or webpages in emails from senders you don’t recognize. 

Any hyperlinks, site addresses, or URLs that appear when you hover your cursor over the email address should all point to the same address or URL.

 If not, the communication is most likely malicious or fake.

While text scams are a newer way of tricking people, the same tactics may be used as some scamming via email.

To learn more ways to protect yourself from scams go here.

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