Scammers pretending to work for Ofgem are trying to swindle Brits out of money by sending emails that offer help with claiming the "energy bill rebate" due in October.
Households across the UK will be given a £200 'reduction' in their energy bills in October, which is paid back over five years. The Energy Bills Support Scheme will be introduced to assist households with rising energy bills during the cost of living crisis.
Households will receive the £200 repayable discount automatically and will not have to apply for it, GOV.UK confirms. But fraudsters are taking the opportunity to exploit the scheme to try and con households into giving away their bank details. Action Fraud and Ofgem have both issued warnings about scams and remind households that the energy regulator will NEVER ask for bank details.
Read more: What are your options if your passport doesn't arrive in time
Ofgem energy rebate scam warning
As of Friday May 20, Action Fraud - which is run by the police - said it received 752 reports of fake emails pretending to be from Ofgem in just four days. The emails say the recipient is "eligible to apply for Energy Bill Rebate" and must do so before June 1.
Action Fraud says: "The emails state that the recipient is eligible for a rebate as a result of a newly announced government scheme. The links in the emails lead to genuine-looking websites that are designed to steal your personal and financial information."
The "rebate" the email is referring to is the Energy Bills Support Scheme, a £200 discount in the form of a loan that will be paid back over five years. Every bill paying household in the UK will be issued with the £200 discount on their bills from October, which is paid back in installments. It has been introduced to assist bill payers as energy costs soar during a cost of living crisis.
The Energy Bills Support Scheme 'rebate' will be applied automatically. Households do NOT have to apply for it. The emails are a scam.
Action Fraud adds: "Your bank, or any other official organisation, won't ask you to share personal information over email or text. If you need to check that it's a genuine message, contact them directly."
Example of an Ofgem energy rebate scam email
Action Fraud has supplied a copy of an email scammers have sent. It is headlined "You are Eligible to Apply for Energy Bill Rebate".
It then reads: "Starting today the Government has announced an energy bill rebate scheme.You have to apply for energy bill rebate before June 01 2022
"The government has announced a package of support to help households with rising energy bills. We will start making the payments in June 2022.
"This includes:
"A £200 discount on their energy bill this Autumn for domestic electricity customers.
"A £250 non-repayable Council Tax Rebate payment for all households that are liable for Council Tax.
"Payment will be processed straight into your bank account."
The email, which includes a copy of Ofgem's orange logo, then invites the recipient to click on a link to "claim rebate now".
"The links in the emails lead to websites that are designed to steal your personal and financial details", warns the UK police's Cyber Protect team.
As mentioned above, the Energy Bills Support Scheme, which is the "rebate" the scam emails are talking about, will be issued automatically. You do not have to "apply" for it.
GOV.UK states : "Households will not need to apply for the scheme, and in most cases, we expect electricity suppliers to apply the reduction automatically to bills from October 2022."
As for the council tax rebate mentioned in the email, your local authority should have contacted you about that £150 payment. If they have not, contact them directly.
How to spot a scam fake Ofgem email
Ofgem is the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets. It regulates the energy market and is a Government department. As such, Ofgem will never ask for bank details, especially over text or email.
Ofgem says: "Ofgem would never sell you energy, ask for personal information or come to your property. "
If you receive an email - from anybody - asking you to input personal details, treat it suspiciously. If you are unsure if an email is genuine, contact the people who the email claims to be from, and ask them. To do this, search online - through Google or a similar search engine - to find their contact details. Don't trust the contact details supplied in the email.
Ofgem offers these tips for avoiding scams
STOP
- Reject, refuse or ignore contact from ‘Ofgem’ that looks or sounds unusual, such as a request for your bank or personal details. We never ask for this information
CHECK
- Check email addresses. Any emails to or from Ofgem always end @ofgem.gov.uk
- Check branding. The Ofgem logo will always be present in our communications. It should never look stretched, blurry or distorted
PROTECT
- Only criminals will try to rush or panic you
You can report and forward suspicious emails to the police via Report@phishing.gov.uk
READ NEXT:
