Skip to main content
Image
Don't pay in cryptocurrency to keep power on. It's a scam

It’s never a good time to have your utilities shut off. But during the hot summer months, the threat of having no power can be especially miserable: no AC, no refrigerator, not even a fan. Scammers know this and will try to trick you into sending them money to keep your electricity on. But there are ways to spot the scammers.

The latest twist on utility scams is asking you to pay in Bitcoin or another type of cryptocurrency. The scam goes like this: you get a call or text from someone pretending to be your utility company. The caller or text says you owe money (which is a lie). The scammers then send you a text—sometimes including your utility company’s logo— with a QR code and tell you to scan it at a Bitcoin ATM to make a payment or your service will be disconnected. Stop!

No utility company will text you about a shut-off, and no utility company will demand payment in cryptocurrency. Those are scams. And before it shuts off service, all real utility companies will notify you in writing and offer a repayment plan. So, if you get one of those texts:

  • Know that only scammers demand payment in cryptocurrency. Real utility companies won’t demand payment by Bitcoin, gift cards, or money transfer through a company like MoneyGram or Western Union. Only scammers do.
  • Contact the utility company directly. Use the number on your bill or on the company’s website if you’re worried about an amount due, or to tell them about the text.
  • Know your options. If you’re behind on utility bills, there are ways to make your payments more affordable, including setting up payment arrangements, budget billing, and ways to reduce your usage.

Help the FTC fight fraud by reporting utility scams at ReportFraud.ftc.gov

Search Terms

It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC’s computer user records system. We may routinely use these records as described in the FTC’s Privacy Act system notices. For more information on how the FTC handles information that we collect, please read our privacy policy.

The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

  • We won’t post off-topic comments, repeated identical comments, or comments that include sales pitches or promotions.
  • We won’t post comments that include vulgar messages, personal attacks by name, or offensive terms that target specific people or groups.
  • We won’t post threats, defamatory statements, or suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity.
  • We won’t post comments that include personal information, like Social Security numbers, account numbers, home addresses, and email addresses. To file a detailed report about a scam, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.

TMV PACKAGING
August 12, 2022

THEY JUST CALLED SAYING TO CALL ABOUT A DISCONECTION 818-270-8713 WIRELESS # AND TO CALL THIS NUMBER TO DISCUSS IT 888-503-5421 WHEN I CALLED ASKING IF IT WAS A SCAM HE HUNG UP ON ME I CALLED BACK & WAS A BUSY SIGNAL FOR A LONG TIME SO THEY BLOCKED ME..LOL

Barbara
August 12, 2022

Thank you for the information. God bless you…

Kie B Dills
August 12, 2022

Thank you for this alert. There are people out there who fall for this SCAM of paying for service(s) or get "cut off", "terminated." We have only electricity utility, and we pay early; through ebill payment.