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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Ukrainians are receiving emails and messages allegedly with urgent electricity bills from the Ministry of Energy. Such messages may hide scammers who are trying to obtain bank details, passwords, or to force a person to download a malicious file.
This is reported by the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection.
Scammers disguise their messages as official notifications from a state agency. They may claim an alleged debt for electricity, send an invoice for payment, or demand an urgent money transfer.
To make the message look credible, criminals use the name of the Ministry of Energy, its logo and formatting that resemble official correspondence. However a familiar appearance of the letter does not confirm that it was really sent by the state agency.
Why a fake electricity bill is dangerous
In a spoofed message, scammers may include a link for “urgent payment.” It leads to a phishing site where a person is asked to enter their bank card number, other payment details, login, password, or personal data.
After obtaining such information, the perpetrators may try to steal funds or gain access to email, social networks, and other accounts.
Another fraud variant is an attachment presented as an invoice or document. After downloading or opening such a file, the device may become infected with malware.
Why a bill from the Ministry of Energy should raise suspicion
The Ministry of Energy of Ukraine does not issue bills for electricity to households and does not collect utility payments.
Payment for consumed electricity is charged by the supplier with whom a person signed a contract. Therefore a letter demanding to transfer money for electricity allegedly for the ministry is a reason to verify the sender and not rush with payment.
Messages that intimidate with debt and demand immediate repayment require special attention. Scammers rely on the recipient's haste to not check the sender’s address and the authenticity of the payment page.
Suspicious may also be letters from unknown email addresses, requests to disclose a password or a code from an SMS, as well as attachments that a person did not expect. Text mistakes and unusual phrasing are additional signs, though a well-written letter can also be scammers.
How to verify the electricity bill and not give money to scammers
If an unexpected bill or debt notification arrives, do not open links from the letter or messenger. You can verify charges through the official website or app of your electricity provider by opening it yourself.
Do not enter bank card details, passwords, or confirmation codes on pages to which suspicious messages lead. Also avoid opening unknown attachments, even if they are titled “invoice” or “receipts.”
The presence of a government logo or the name of a well-known company in the letter does not guarantee its authenticity: scammers can copy these elements.
What to do if bank data has already fallen into the hands of scammers
If a person followed a suspicious link and entered bank details or noticed money disappear, they should contact their bank as soon as possible and block payment instruments that may have been compromised.
To report fraud, save the email or chat correspondence, the link, the sender’s phone number, and other available evidence. You can file a report to the Cyber Police via its online form.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Шахраї вимагають від українців терміново оплатити світло: лист надходить від імені Міненерго". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Expert.
