CenterPoint Energy is part of the Utilities United Against Scams initiative, a campaign focused on: 

  1. ​Exposing the tricks utility scammers use to steal money, and
  2. Helping utility customers protect themselves.

Public utility scams involve criminals acting as imposters, pretending to be someone they’re not. While the circumstances may vary scam to scam, the intention is the always the same: To steal victims’ money and/or their identity.

Public Utility Scamming is a bigger problem than you think.

  • ​Utilities fraud accounted for 5 percent of all identity theft reports to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2016, according to the FTC data book​.
  • Imposter scams recently became the second-most common type of consumer complaint to the FTC (406,000+ filed in 2016).       
  • Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies all investigate scam reports, but perpetrators are difficult to identify and are often based outside the United States.

Let’s Fight Scams Together

It’s important for utilities, customers, authorities, and watchdog consumer groups to all work together to raise awareness about techniques and schemes that utility scammers commonly use.

Learn more about imposter scams concerning public utilities: