Is this a scam?

I have received an email saying that I am entitled to £400 under the energy support scheme. There is a box marked "Proceed Now", which I am reluctant to click on, in order to register a claim. As a universal benefit, such a payment would surely be an automatic discount from one's bills.

Does anyone know if this is a scam, or am I just paranoid?

Geoff G

An email from who ? Don't click it, they will ask for your bank details. hover your mouse over the ' proceed' button and it should highlight where the link goes

Edited By vic newey on 30/11/2022 09:53:39

Does the government actually have your email address? I would be very wary, I received notification in the post from the DWP about the winter fuel payment and it does not ask for any further details. I assume it will be paid into the account used for my state pension. If it is the payment for the subsidy to fuel bills then direct debit customers will receive the payment in a series of six monthly payments to their electricity supplier. I have received two payments so far. There seems to be a process to claim the subsidy if you do not use direct debit or a prepayment meter. I would be very cautious and look out for email addresses that are almost correct but have an extra character included that is easy to miss.

Mike

Edited By Mike Poole on 30/11/2022 10:11:36

.

Your reluctance is very appropriate, Geoff

Once you have convinced yourself [as per vic’s advice] … please forward the message to

[email protected]

You will only get an automated message of thanks, but [as Tesco likes to say] every little helps

MichaelG.

It's a 100% copper-bottomed scam! Don't respond. See this article in the Independent, other news sources available.

Dave

It comes straight off the bill at source

I'm registered nowhere for nothing and haven't received a bean from anything ever

No direct debits either

but I got this one, it comes directly through the electric company and gets deducted from the domestic bill

Anything from the genuine suppliers will have details such as name, address, account or meter numbers that are not normally available to the scammers. Anything missing such details is best treated as a scam until proven otherwise by means other than clicking on a dodgy link. Almost all the scams I see are vague about who they are for, along the lines of the "dear mum" or "dear dad" I need money ones, that do not say who they are from as they do not include the purported child's name.

Martin C

Governmental bodies normally write to you although they also have web-sites you can use.

It is worth examining the e-mail address - the dodgy ones look dodgy, and if your system has the equivalent of BT Internet's 'View Source" it may even show the message has come through at least one intermediate address.

I received one this morning trying to advertise something to put on my IPhone. It did look look genuine apart from a weird sending name and domain. I blocked both.

100% scam. I have just received my paper bill for gas and it shows the rebate as "Energy Price Guarantee" and -£xx for the month. The electricity bill shows the same entry but a lower amount. I think there is some calculation related either to the amount used or because the gas is heating.

EVERY unsolicited email that offers you money in return for clicking on a link is a scam.

Legitimate companies/departments simply do not do it, because of all the scams out there.

Hi, apparently there are a number of scammers jumping on this support scheme, so be wary. If it's from the Government, you should get a letter from them telling what you will get and how it will be paid to you. there is Government info online Energy Support (google)

Regards Nick.

As far as I understand, our fuel supplement will be given to us automatically - we don't need to do anything, so an email is highly likely to be a scam.

If you go to the www.gov.uk Government website, that will give the proper information.

You won't get anything in the post

It simply comes off your Electric company bill

I got an email from the supplier saying it was being applied

Geoff

Delete it, I received the same email a couple of days ago, it’s definitely a scam. Any payments that you are entitled to will be paid automatically by the govt, with your pensions or disability benefits if you receive them, also your energy supplier will be reducing your energy bill by the amount you are entitled to as energy price guarantee. Dave W

Any communication asking for identity verification can be treated as a scam. Only accept email or letter from a known source with verifiable contact details. When making contact only confirm your identity with the minimum of detail, with banks it may be just two numbers of a verification code they already have, I assume power suppliers would use something similar. All this assumes you can hold on the phone long enough, this is where phone over internet comes in useful.

Thank you all, Gentlemen.

The email just didn't look right, but it's getting harder to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Life must be difficult for those trying to run a legitimate business, whether by phone, internet or post.

Thanks again.

Geoff G

My winter fuel allowance was paid into my bank last Monday. I got the letter from DWP this dinner time. I got the (scam) e-mail this morning and deleted it without opening it. Also, it's the first time that the letter has not been in a brown envelope.

Roy