Stay Protected from Scams

“There are so many internet scams today. Send me $19.95, and I’ll tell you how to avoid them.” – Internet meme

It often seems that for every honest person, there are dozens of dishonest ones trying to cheat them. Scammers try to earn your trust to gain access to your financial information, or they may demand an immediate payment by threatening negative consequences.

Scammers may approach you online, over the phone or even in person by posing as representatives of legitimate companies. Utilities, like Duke Energy, have become a favorite of con artists who will contact you with false claims about your account by email, phone or in person claiming to be one of our employees.

In the first 10 months of 2023, more than 77,000 Duke Energy customers reported scam attempts. While this figure is well below the more than 150,000 this time last year, it’s still way too many. To help you identify and avoid scams, we’ve put together some helpful, easy to remember information. You can learn more about some of the most common scams in our industry by visiting our Scam & Fraud page.

Dealing with phone and in-person scammers

Ironically, the word “scam” can be used to create useful acronyms to remind you of how to respond to telephone or in-person scam attempts.

Stop – Or at least slow down. Scammers talk fast and push you to make decisions quickly knowing that pressure may lead you to act impulsively. If you feel pressured, pause, take a deep breath, pay close attention and ask LOTS of questions.

Contact local law enforcement – If you feel that your safety is threatened in any way, call 911 immediately. Even if you don’t feel threatened, what these individuals are attempting is illegal, and the threat of arrest may scare them off.

Advise – A fake utility worker or phone scammer will probably be targeting your entire neighborhood, so take advantage of community chats or text lists to let your friends and neighbors know to be on the lookout.

Make a report – Utilize our online Scam Reporting Tool to report scammers claiming to be from Duke Energy. The information you provide will help us and the authorities to find the perpetrators.

Identifying and responding to email scams

Email scams may be easier to dispose of – just click delete – but the key to avoiding them is knowing how to spot them.

Sender – If you can't verify that the sender is legit, don't respond. Look carefully at the sender’s email address. Misspellings or mixed capital and lowercase letters are a dead giveaway. If you are unsure, find the main contact number for the organization, and call them directly.

Content – If the content of the email is unexpected, full of typos or questionable in any way, don’t respond. Also, common scam emails focus on a problem or a prize. If you weren’t expecting either, chances are they have neither.

Action – What did it want me to do? Legitimate organizations almost never ask you to take specific action based solely on an email. Requests for personal information, account numbers or direct payments should be viewed as potentially fraudulent.

Manage – As with direct contact scams, report suspicious emails to the appropriate authorities. For scammers posing as Duke Energy employees, please use our online Scam Reporting Tool.