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British Gas scam emails are being sent to Halton residents, Borough Council Trading Standards Officers are warning, And they are urging people to stay vigilant to avoid being conned.

The email below is a scam, the content of the email should raise consumers suspicions.

From: bill@britishgas.co.uk British Gas <Spooner_92@hotmail.co.uk>
Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2020 8:06:21 AM
To: ‘Customers email address’
Subject: RE: Payment reminder for Invoice GI7861824
Hello ‘Customers email address’
We sent you a gas bill for £3.71, and we still haven’t received payment. If you’ve paid it in the last five days, please ignore this email. To see if your payment has cleared you can Check your account.
Nextsteps
If we do not receive a payment or hear from you in the next two days and we have to contact you again, you will be charged £140 to cover our reasonable costs.
If we have to visit your property to collect this debt you will be charged £530.
If the debt remains unpaid we plan to obtain a court warrant to visit your home and either replace your gas meter with a pay as you go meter or disconnect your gas supply this could result in additional charges of up to £302.
If your gas supply is disconnected we will charge you £720 to reconnect your supply
Pay us online now
Customer Service @British Gas Team

1. The email is pretending its from bill@britishgas.co.uk British Gas, but actually its from Spooner_92@hotmail.co.uk
2. The email is addresses to the persons email address, not the individual’s name.
3. It wants you to log in through a link in the email, to find out your accounts status.
4. It wants you to make a quick decision (by having a short deadline).
5. Failure to act will cost the recipient money (£140 and maybe £530 + £302 + £720).
6. The threat of the company obtaining a court warrant to enter your home.
7. The threat of disconnecting you gas supply.
8. It wants you to click a link in the email to pay them now.

If you have received this email, simply delete it!

Halton Borough Council’s Executive Board Member for Trading Standards, Cllr Dave Cargill , said: “If you would like to get confirmation from your supplier of any changes to your account or charges, seek out their telephone number from an old bill “

If you or somebody you know has been caught out by a scam or fraud please contact one of our specialist officers, Linda or Sue on 0151 511 8785 or 0151 511 8775, who are already working with people in Halton who have lost thousands of pounds to scams.

If you need advice on anything else please contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline or 0808 223 1133