The utility company says a man with a Hispanic accent has been posing as a PG&E employee. They say he's been calling elderly citizens, threatening to disconnect their service within an hour if they do not call back with a gift card number in the amount of an alleged past due bill.
PG&E says this is a scam, stressing that they will never ask for that kind of personal information over the phone.
They note that the San Francisco Police Department has also received reports of the same scam, and that they are eager to work with law enforcement "to catch these criminals."
Customers with concerns about the legitimacy of a call they received about a past due bill, a service request, or request for personal information are encouraged to call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000.
