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PG&E Customers Lost Nearly $650,000 to Scammers During 2024

OAKLAND, Calif., March 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- During 2024, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) customers lost nearly $650,000 to utility scammers. To help combat this alarming trend, PG&E is joining the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to help customers recognize and avoid potential scams during National Consumer Protection Week from March 2-8, 2025.

Scams targeting utility customers continue at an alarming rate. In fact, during 2024, PG&E received over 26,000 reports from customers who were targeted by scammers impersonating the company, and customers lost $646,000 in fraudulent payments. Unfortunately, this number is likely just the tip of the iceberg for overall scam attempts, as many go unreported. The number of reports is continuing at a high level thus far in 2025, as PG&E received over 1,700 reports of attempted scams in January alone, with customers paying scammers nearly $22,000 during the month.

"Scammers will attempt to create a sense of urgency by threatening immediate disconnection of your utility services if you don't make immediate payment. Remember, PG&E will never ask you for financial information over the phone, nor will we ask for payment via pre-paid debit cards or money transfer services like Zelle. If you receive a call like this, hang up, and then either log onto PGE.com to confirm your account details, or you can call our customer service number," said Ron Rose, lead customer scam investigator for PG&E.

Scammers are opportunistic and look for times when customers may be distracted or stressed and are constantly contacting utility customers asking for payment to avoid immediate service disconnection. As a reminder, PG&E will never call for the first time within one hour of a service disconnection, nor will we ask customers to make payments with a pre-paid debit card, gift card, any form of cryptocurrency, or third-party digital payment mobile applications like Zelle or Venmo.

Small and medium-sized businesses are also a target, and scammers will focus their efforts during busy business hours, preying on business owners' sense of urgency to keep the doors open and the lights on. In fact, PG&E received over 1,200 reports of scam attempts targeting these customers during 2024.

Signs of a potential scam:

• Threat to disconnect: Scammers may aggressively demand immediate payment for an alleged past due bill.

• Request for immediate payment: Scammers may instruct the customer to purchase a prepaid card then call them back supposedly to make a bill payment.

• Request for prepaid card: When the customer calls back, the caller asks the customer for the prepaid card's number, which grants the scammer instant access to the card's funds.

• Refund or rebate offers: Scammers may say that your utility company overbilled you and owes you a refund, or that you are entitled to a rebate.