To be appalled by this blatant scam

[Rosscameasdoody]

Posting on AIBU to ensure this reaches as many people as possible. I received an email this morning supposedly from Ofgem. The email looked authentic, had the Ofgem logo and professional looking content - none of the usual giveaways such as bad spelling and grammar. It was advising that the consultation on how to deliver the government energy rebate had ended on 11 April and that the email was my invitation to apply for the rebate - ‘click the link below to begin the application’.

I’m pretty sure we’re all aware that the energy companies will be responsible for applying the rebate to energy accounts but I just wanted to make people aware of this scam because it’s frighteningly realistic - so much so that I actually checked with my energy company to make sure there hadn’t been a change. Just another disgusting attempt by unscrupulous thieves to con vulnerable people out of their money.

What email address was it sent from OP? (I always check that first)

was it an official email address. E.g. [email protected]

Or something like [email protected]

We shouldn’t have to, but we all need to be weary of these scams. Wether it’s by email, text or telephone. They’re everywhere. Thanks for the heads up!!

<[email protected]>

This was the email address in the header - looks authentic, as did the text, but since posting I’ve had it confirmed that it’s a known scam.

You can't rely upon checking the sender's email address. They often spoof genuine ones.

It's true that you can't judge by email address alone, but in that case you could. That is a really obvious scam email address.

Did the email address not give it away?

Hardly frighteningly realistic with such an obviously fake email address.

Obviously fake to a lot of people maybe, but perhaps not so obvious to many others, especially those who spend less time online. My MIL is sharp for her age, but would have been completely taken in by that.

Just more and more scams every day. Utter scum.

OP, energy companies are not giving the rebate that’s not correct. The rebate is being paid by councils and there’s been plenty of publicity and news coverage about this. Hopefully the email won’t fool too many people.

It might also be worth seeing if you can improve your spam filters in your inbox as this obviously fake email shouldn’t have made it past that.

I think you are wrong and this is how so many are taken in by scams. The council are not providing the energy rebate and therefore this has not been widely publicised that they are. The gov are providing the £150 council tax rebate and energy companies are providing the energy rebate. See below excerpt from government website.

The Energy Bills Rebate will provide around 28 million households with an upfront discount on their bills worth £200. Energy suppliers will apply the discount to domestic electricity customers from October, with the Government meeting the costs. The discount will then be automatically recovered from people’s bills in equal £40 instalments over the next five years. This will begin from 2023, when global wholesale gas prices are expected to come down.

You've no idea how low some people will go.

DP died suddenly a few days before Christmas. He had an Amex card. In March I got a letter (addressed to the estate of the late Mr Gymnopedie) purporting to be from Amex, saying they were sorry to hear of his death and that his card was now cancelled. Then they wanted the full card number (it was a *xxx number in the letter), a copy of the death certificate and, in case there was a credit balance to be repaid, a copy of the will and the bank account details.

The things that worried me about this, apart from the obvious scam, were a. that I hadn't got round to telling Amex about his death and b. that although part of the number was asterisked, the numbers they showed were correct. How the hell did they know he'd died, that he had an Amex card, and what at least part of the number was?????

The rebate for council tax is being paid by councils - payments were triggered by the first instalment on this years’ bill for those paying by DD, but the energy rebate is being deducted from bills directly by the energy companies later this year.

I had to go searching for the email address as it wasn’t immediately obvious. I rang my energy company to make sure it was fake and then forwarded the email to the appropriate reporting site.

Is the £200 discount on a monthly basis or against the yearly bill - does any know?

You're still wrong, sorry.

The £150 rebate is being paid by councils. It's a rebate. It is not a loan and you don't have to pay it back. It's paid by councils but is for your energy bills, it's not a rebate on your council tax itself. You're mixing this up with the £200 loan/discount.

The £200 loan/discount has to be repaid over five years at £40 per year. This is not the same as the £150 rebate.

It's a one-off payment that will be made in the Autumn against your domestic electricity bill paid by your energy supplier. You'll pay this back at £40 a year for five years.

www.gov.uk/government/news/energy-bills-support-scheme-explainer

That was in reply to @Barckays - sorry.

I'm appalled at all scams, blatant and clever. Scammers are the lowest of our gene pool.

That email is a really obvious scam email. It doesnt look authentic at all.

if you hover over the email address the spoofed one gives way to the real one

I’m pretty sure we’re all aware that the energy companies will be responsible for applying the rebate to energy accounts but I just wanted to make people aware of this scam

This part of your post sticks out. The fact that you are not aware of how the rebate is being paid (but believe you are) shows how easy it is for people to believe what they think is correct.

Essentially we all have to be constantly questioning ourselves and checking we've got our facts straight.

I have received my rebate and my bank statement clearly states it's from the council who I pay my council tax to.

@Gymnopedie that's an awful story. I'm sorry it happened to you.

I find this £200 loan/discount thing appalling. It is going to cause so many problems. People die, emigrate, move, go to prison, get dementia, become ill etc etc etc . Millions will be written off for one reason or another. It is never going to be repaid completely, and worst of all there is no attempt to focus on the people who really could use it. I don’t need it, or want it but apparently there is no way of refusing it.

and worst of all there is no attempt to focus on the people who really could use it. I don’t need it, or want it but apparently there is no way of refusing it.

The administrative costs of making it means tested would make it more expensive than a non-means tested award. It used to be the same with child benefit and is the same with the older persons winter fuel allowance. As if my IL's needed help with their fuel costs in their massive house and Aga!

I think the government is well aware which pensioners get pension top up credit, and which don’t. Which families get disability allowances for themselves or their children. Who gets higher rate mobility allowances. Who gets tax credits, who is on UC. If the emphasis was on supporting those people then that would be a better use of the money, though it does et alter the fact that saddling the poorest in the country with a loan debt that they never asked for is a weird idea ,make it a grant. It would save the cost of the untenable situation of trying to claim it back .