Have you ever been fishing and cast your line out with mouthwatering bait, waiting to see if you get a bite? That is exactly what scammers do through email, texts or phone calls to get you hooked, so you send them money.

“Anyone phoning you, claiming to be from Southern California Edison and threatening to shut off your power for nonpayment is scamming you,” said Randy White, SCE’s manager of Physical Security Operations. “SCE will never phone you to threaten disconnection and demand immediate payment.”

Scammers are clever and constantly adapting to find new ways to trick you and get your money. They might send you an email saying you have a past-due balance, and your service will be immediately disconnected unless you click the link or send you a text message saying the same thing using a special code. Don’t fall for it — that is a phishing scam.

“The best way for customers to protect themselves against energy company phone scams is to educate themselves, their families and their friends about being aware when they receive telephone calls from individuals claiming to be with SCE demanding money for payment,” White said.

International Fraud Awareness Week is Nov. 13-19, with Utility Scam Awareness Day on Nov. 16. SCE wants you to be aware of the many ways thieves can prey on customers, especially heading into the holiday season, a notoriously busy time for scams.

• Phone Scams: Scammers rely on aggressive tactics and the confusion created by surprise. They will often apply pressure if you start to ask questions and speak with a sense of urgency, so customers do not have time to think about or verify their claims. Beware if a caller exhibits impatience, annoyance or anger when you question their authority. While a scammer will discourage you from hanging up and calling the number on your bill, an actual SCE representative will encourage you to do so for your own peace of mind. Call SCE directly to verify the status of your account.
• Email Scams: Some scammers send spam emails disguised as legitimate SCE emails with spoofed addresses, logos, trademarks, website links and wording to add to the deception. If you click on attachments or hyperlinks in emails from unknown senders, including scammers posing as SCE, you may inadvertently download malware to your computer. Scam emails may come from a suspicious email address. When you move your mouse over the email address, any links, URLs or web addresses should be from the same address or URL. If not, then the message is probably fraudulent or malicious.
• Text Scams: Smishing, short for SMS phishing, is a relatively new scam that attempts to trick you into giving scammers information via a text or SMS message. Scammers like smishing because customers tend to be more inclined to trust text messages. Do not reply to text messages from people you do not know, and do not click on links you receive unless you know from whom they were sent. SCE will not text you unless you have signed up for a specific notification service.
  
  

For more tips on how to protect yourself from scams, visit sce.com/scamalert.