An SMS or WhatsApp message references your electricity account number, warns of disconnection “today if unpaid”, and offers a payment link. Even when the account number is right, the payment link is not the discom’s.
Where the details on the bill come from
Scammers scrape consumer numbers from leaky portals and reused passwords, or simply try every number combination. A correct account number in the message proves nothing about who wrote it.
Why it matters
- The threat of disconnection is the pressure; the payment link is the harvest.
- A lookalike logo and your account number are cheap to fake.
- Power is not cut by link — it is cut by an invoice trail you can inspect.
Key takeaways
- Urgency in a utility message is the scam, not the utility.
- Pay only through official portals or recognised aggregators.
- Report the message so your local discom can warn its customers.
What real payment looks like
- Real discoms bill via their own portal/app, and through recognised aggregators.
- The official link shows verified merchant/beneficiary details before you pay.
- Legitimate discoms never chase payment through a random link in the same breath as a disconnection threat.
What you should do
- Never pay a bill from a link in a message. Open your discom’s official portal/app yourself.
- Cross-check the amount and consumer ID on the official bill copy.
- If you paid a fake link, dispute the transfer with your bank the same day and report at cybercrime.gov.in.