Scam Pretending to be PG&E

Fake PG&E electric/utilities "disconnection of service" or rebates/savings scam by madarchod criminals phoning from India and spoofing the actual valid number for PG&E. This scam begins with a recording that is generated using text-to-speech translation software to disguise the origin of this India scam. The recording says something like: "This call is to inform you that you will be experiencing a disconnection of service today within 60 minutes due to non-payment posted on the account. Please contact the billing headquarters as soon as possible to avoid service interruption." or "This is a disconnection notice from your electric company. Please be aware that your electric service will be disconnected within the next 30 minutes due to non-payment. Immediate action is required to avoid disconnection today." These fake service suspension scams have been adjusted for hundreds of India phone scams to say either your Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, DirecTV or cable TV, Comcast, or various electric service has been or will be disconnected/suspended unless you press 1 or call back. If you respond to this call, the India scammer pretends to be a company representative and tells you that your bill is overdue or your account has been suspended, and they try to steal your Social Security number, credit card number, or bank account/routing number under the pretense of verifying your account information and demanding that you pay the fake past due amount. All real disconnections of electric/gas/water, phone, Internet, and television service are always preceded by personal notices sent to you by printed-on-paper mail or email that detail the exact amount that is unpaid, and all robo-calls playing recordings are always scams. Many phone scams use a pressure tactic saying that something will happen within 30 or 60 minutes. This India scammer also runs electric savings/rebate scams that pretend to offer savings or rebate checks where the call begins with a recording that says: "This is an apology call from your electric utility. You got overcharged by your third party supplier. You will be receiving a rebate check along with a 30 percent discount on your electric and gas bill. Please press 1 to get a rebate check." or "Since you have not missed any electric bill payments in the last 6 months, now you are eligible to get 20 to 25 percent savings on your electric and gas bills. Please press 1 to get your new discounted rates." Again with this fake electric savings/rebate scam, the scammer tries to steal your credit card, SSN, bank account/routing number, and personal information. More than 95% of North America phone scams come from India scammers who operate hundreds of fraud, extortion, and money laundering scams every day such as posing as a fake pharmacy; fake Social Security officer saying your benefits are suspended; IRS officer collecting on fake unpaid back taxes; bill collector threatening you for fake unpaid debts; fake bank, financial, or Fedex/UPS/DHL scams; pretending to offer fake health insurance, car warranty, student loan forgiveness, credit card and debt consolidation services; posing as Amazon to falsely say an unauthorized purchase was made to your credit card or your Prime membership was auto-debited from your bank; posing as Microsoft/Dell/HP/Apple and saying your account has been hacked or they detected a problem or virus on your computer; fake "we are refunding your money" or "your account has been auto-debited" scams; fake Google/Alexa listing and work-from-home scams; posing as an electric utility or Verizon/AT&T/Comcast to say your service is suspended; fake solar panel and home purchase offers; fake fundraisers asking for donations; fake political and lifestyle phone surveys; and the scammers try to steal your credit card, bank account/routing number, Social Security number, and personal information. One India call center may cycle through a fake Social Security, computer subscription auto-renewal, pharmacy, and credit card offer scam during one week. People often hear different scams from the same spoofed Caller ID number. Scammers often use disposable VoIP phone numbers (MagicJack devices) or they spoof fake Caller ID phone numbers. Anyone can use telecom software or a third-party service to phone using fake CID names/numbers. India scammers often spoof fake "8xx-" toll-free numbers. The CID name/number is useless with scam calls unless the scam asks you to phone them back and the CID area code is almost never the origin of the call. You waste your time researching the CID number since scams use spoofed CID numbers from across the U.S. and Canada, totally invalid area codes, and also fake foreign country CID numbers; e.g. fake women crying "help me" emergency scams from India often spoof Mexico and Middle East CID numbers. India scammers also spoof the actual phone numbers of businesses such as Apple, Verizon, and U.S. banks to trick you into thinking that a call is valid. How can you avoid being scammed by phone calls? NEVER trust any unsolicited caller who sells something (most unsolicited calls are scams so your odds of saving money are very poor); offers of a free gift; legal or arrest phone threats or a caller/recording who says you need to reply back soon (pressure tactic); callers who ask you to access a website, download a file, wire transfer money or buy gift cards; claims of suspicious activity on an account; subscriptions being refunded or auto-renewed/auto-debited; and all pre-recorded messages. Recorded messages are far more likely to be malicious scams, and not just telemarketing spam. A common India scam phones you with a fake Amazon recording about a purchase of an iPhone, but Amazon never robo-dials and Amazon account updates are communicated in emails. Many banks use automated fraud alert phone calls to confirm a suspicious purchase, but always verify the number that the message tells you to phone or just call the number printed on your credit card. Any unsolicited caller with a foreign accent, usually Indian, should immediately be treated as a scam. Many scams tell a lie that you recently inquired about a job, insurance, social security benefits, doctor appointment, or that you recently contacted them or visited their website. Scammers try to gain your trust by saying your name when they call, but the autodialer is automatically displaying your name to the scammer or saying your name in a recording when your number is dialed using phone databases that have millions of names and addresses. India scammers often phone with an initial pre-recorded message speaking English, Spanish, or Chinese that is easily generated using text-to-speech translation software to disguise the origin of their India phone room, but then you speak to the scammer when you press 1 or call them back. Some speech synthesis software sound robotic, but others sound natural. To hide their foreign accents, some India scammers use non-Indians in their phone room. India scammers use interactive voice response (IVR) robotic software that combines voice recognition with artificial intelligence, speaks English with American voices, and responds based on your replies. IVR calls begin with: "Hi, this is fake_name, I am a fake_job_title on a recorded line, can you hear me okay?"; or "Hi, this is fake_name, how are you doing today?"; or "Hello? (pause) Are you there?"; or "Hi, may I speak to your_name?" IVR quickly asks you a short question to elicit a yes/no reply so it hangs up if it encounters voicemail. IVR robots understand basic replies, yes/no/what answers, and basic questions. To test for IVR, ask "How is the weather over there?" since IVR cannot answer complex questions. IVR robots keep talking if you interrupt them in mid-sentence. IVR usually transfers you to the scammer, but some scams entirely use IVR with the robot asking for your credit card or SSN. A common myth is that IVR calls record you saying "yes" so scammers can authorize purchases just using your "yes" voice, but scammers need more information than just a simple recorded "yes" from you - credit cards and SSN. Phone/email scams share two common traits: 1) The Caller ID name/number and the "From:" header on emails are easily faked; and 2) The intent of scam calls is malicious just as file attachments and website links on scam emails are harmful. Scams snowball for many victims. If your personal/financial data are stolen, either by being scammed, visiting a malicious website, or by a previous data breach of a business server that stores your data, then your data gets sold by scammers on the dark web who then see you as fresh meat and prey on you even more. This is why some receive 40+ scam calls everyday while others get 0 to 2 calls per day. If you provide your personal and financial data to a phone scammer, lured by fake 80%-discounted drugs or scared by fake IRS officers, you receive far more phone scams and identity theft can take years to repair. Most unsolicited calls are scams, often with an Indian accent. No other country is infested with pandemics of phone room sweatshops filled with criminals who belong to the lowest India caste and many are thieves and rapists who were serving jail time but released early due to prison overcrowding. India scammers shout profanities at you. Just laugh at their abusive language. Google "Hindi swear words" and memorize some favorites, e.g. call him "Rundi Ka Bacha" (son of whore) or call her "Rundi Ki Bachi" (daughter of whore). Scammers ignore the National Do-Not-Call Registry and asking scammers to stop calling is useless. You do these scammers a favor by quickly hanging up. But you ruin their scams when you slowly drag them along on the phone call, always give them fake personal and credit card data (16 random digits starting with 4 for Visa, 5 for MasterCard), ask them to speak louder and repeat what they said to waste their time and energy.

PG&E WILL NEVER CALL YOU! THIS IS A REAL PG&E NUMBER, BUT SCAMMERS USE IT FOR PHISHING.

Gas company

No message but internet searches say they call about past due invoices. We are not served by PG&E, so scam.

SPAM

Phone # was noted by the Pleasanton Police Department

PG&E service announcement

This was an auto notification from PG&E

PG&E area notifications

DTE Energy shut off scam

Pacific gas and electric

I don’t have a PGE bill with my number on it, I am a tenant in the house

PGE allowed them to call me.Thanks

Pg&e

Spoofing, using PG&E customer service number.

Spoofed PG&E number- wanted me to press a number to speak to a representative. Legitimate PG&E calls won’t do that.

Told me they were going to turn off my pge in 1 hour said they were having billing trouble with their billing system and were going to send my last 2 payments back unchecked and then put those 2payments on my credit card

PG&E bill pay scam

Called to let me know of an upcoming scheduled power outage. California electric and gas company

PGE

PG&E scam

Sounds like a solar company

Page

Unsolicited

Played a partial message about disconnecting service w/o saying which service or from what company.

Utility scam

Unknown caller

Not sure, the bot left a voice mail but I could tell what they were talking about.

Pacific Gas & Electric. Claims for unpaid bill, threats to cut off services.

This is a fake credit services scam call by criminals phoning from Russia, trying to steal your credit card number, Social Security number, and personal information. There are hundreds of these Russian scams where they offer to lower the interest rates on a fake student loan that you do not have, consolidate all your debts at "0% interest", or give you an unsecured $100,000 line of credit. This call begins with a pre-recorded robotic speaker who pretends to be a credit and loan service. The robotic English message is generated using text-to-speech translation software to disguise the origin of this Russian scam. If you respond to the call, then you get transferred to the West Russian scammer who tells you that because of your good credit history, he can offer you lower interest rates... he just needs your credit card number and SSN "for verification purposes". More than 95% of all North America phone scams originate from crowded phone rooms in Russia that run numerous fraud, extortion, and money laundering scams every day such as pretending to be a fake pharmacy, posing as fake Social Security or IRS officers collecting on "unpaid back taxes" or fake bill collectors threatening you for fake unpaid debts, pretending to offer fake health insurance, car warranty, and debt, student loan forgiveness, credit card consolidation services, posing as Amazon to falsely say that an unauthorized purchase was made to your account or that your Prime membership was auto-debited from your credit card or bank account, posing as Microsoft or HP to say that your software needs renewal or they detected a problem with your computer, pretending to be DHL, UPS, FedEx or a bank, falsely stating that they installed ransomware virus on your computer and you need to pay them money, etc, and the scammers try to steal your credit card, bank account and routing number, or Social Security number and personal information. Some Russian scammers try to gain your trust by looking up the name associated with your phone number and asking for you by name when they call. Many Russian scammers now phone you with an initial pre-recorded robotic person speaking English, Spanish, or Chinese that is easily generated using text-to-speech translation software to disguise the origin of their Russia phone room, but then you speak to the West Russian scammer when you take the bait and respond to the pre-recorded message. Russian scammers often either use disposable VoIP phone numbers or they spoof fake Caller ID phone numbers. Anyone can use telecom software or a third-party service to phone using fake names and phone numbers that show up on Caller ID. Russian scammers often spoof fake toll-free Caller ID numbers. Russian scammers do not care about the U.S. National Do-Not-Call Registry and asking scammers to stop calling has no effect. Never give an unknown caller your credit card number or Social Security number. Companies who already have your information may ask for the last four digits of your Social Security number for verification. Some Russian scammers ask for your bank account and routing number or ask you to wire transfer them a payment, giving a fake explanation that they cannot accept a credit card or personal check. This is an instant scammer alert because scammers can withdraw money if they know your bank account and routing number (e.g. counterfeit cashed checks) and illegal wire transfers are far less traceable than unauthorized credit card charges. Russian scammers may threaten to have you arrested, but the IRS, Social Security Administration, and debt collectors cannot threaten to arrest or sue you on the phone; they are required to send you paper notices by registered mail. If the scam sounds very authentic, ask the scammer for their verifiable company name, street address, and a callback number, which all real businesses will provide. Every Russian scammer will immediately fail this test since they all use spoofed fake Caller ID numbers or Non-Fixed VoIP numbers (e.g. Skype or Google Voice) that they quickly dispose of. Never trust any unsolicited call because they are mostly scammers, usually with a slight or strong West Russian accent, and most scam calls originate from Russia.

PG&E scam..past due bill they need to collect..not even my electric co..be careful don’t fall for this type of scams..

Electric bill not paid

No company name —wanted me to press 2

This use to be a PG&E number but now belongs to a scammer. Threatening to cut your power off. Trying to sell solar Evans and lm o

Scam

Power Company shutoff scam

PG&E doesn't call. They are pretending to be an electricity company.

Solar company that falsely uses pge phone number on the caller id. They are not PGE

PG&E Company

PG&E

robo PG&E service communication

Allow this call . It is PG&E

PG&E

PGE SCAM

It’s my utility company.