Scams & Fraud

We won’t call to threaten immediate disconnection

Scammers are calling customers and impersonating utility company staff, claiming to be collecting on late bills. In many cases, they falsify their caller ID information to make it appear as though the call is coming from Piedmont Natural Gas. In some instances, where prerecorded messages ask customers to call back for more information, the upfront message will actually mimic the utility’s interactive voice response system.

The caller attempts to obtain customer account or personal information. They may threaten immediate service disconnection – usually within an hour – if immediate payment is not made with a prepaid debit card. We will never notify you about disconnection in this manner.

Because we do occasionally contact our customers by phone, it can be difficult to tell a scammer from a real Piedmont Natural Gas employee. Here are some tips:

• If it’s a prerecorded voice, often referred to as a robocall, be extra cautious. Do not provide any personal data. The prerecorded calls Piedmont Natural Gas deploys are informative in nature and will not request personal information.


• If we do call you to discuss your account, we will provide information that only you and Piedmont Natural Gas would know to validate that our call is legitimate (such as account balance). You can visit piedmontng.com/login to confirm your account balance.


• Scammers may instruct you to make payments via prepaid cards, digital payment apps, cryptocurrencies or direct transactions with banking institutions. Piedmont Natural Gas does not accept payments through the Cash App, Venmo or Zelle apps.


• Remember: Debit cards are like cash and the transactions cannot be reversed.


• If you feel pressured for immediate payment or personal information, hang up the phone and call us at 800.752.7504. This will ensure you are speaking to a Piedmont Natural Gas representative.


• If a Piedmont Natural Gas representative contacts you about a pending disconnection, we allow 48 hours for payment and never ask for debit or credit card numbers; you will be prompted to enter this information via your phone touchpad in privacy. You can also visit piedmontng.com/payment to make a requested payment.

Beware when clicking links in emails and texts!

See the tips below for information on how to avoid scams from emails, texts, and on the web:

General

• Avoid clicking links or downloading attachments from businesses or individuals you do not know, and contact Piedmont Natural Gas directly to discuss your account.
• Do not click on links, open attachments, forward or respond to questionable emails or texts demanding personal or financial information.

Emails

• Piedmont Natural Gas customers have reported receiving statements via email that claim their “energy bill” is due or past due.
• These types of emails, known as phishing, instruct customers to click on a link to pay their bill. Clicking on the link could result in downloading a virus onto the recipient’s computer or theft of personal information.
• When you receive an email that you think is from Piedmont Natural Gas, first check the “sender” field. If the email address does not end with “@piedmontng.com,” the email is not from us. Check for the correct spelling.
• If there are any links in the email, hover over them to see the spelling of the actual linked web address. (DO NOT CLICK before confirming the web address.) All of our webpages include “piedmontng.com” in the URL.
• Be suspicious of emails with typos, unknown sender addresses or unknown webpages.
• Do not click any links in an email or text unless you have verified the sender.

Texts

• We use abbreviated links in our text messages. Any link in our text messages will always start with pngas.us/.
• Do not respond to a suspicious text urging you to immediately pay a bill or verify activity. Report the suspicious text to your cellphone carrier by forwarding it to 7726.
• Our texts will always start with the correct spelling of our company name and never display your full personal information.

Web

• Scammers also set up fraudulent webpages that show up in internet searches to trick you into giving up your personal information or paying money.
• Do not use search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo!, etc.) to find and pay your bill online. Go directly to the Piedmont Natural Gas website (piedmontng.com).

Check claims before giving up information

Scammers are calling, texting or emailing customers promising to mail refund checks for overpayments on their accounts if they can confirm their personal data, including birthdays and, in some cases, Social Security numbers.

Generally, Piedmont Natural Gas will apply refunds as a credit to customers’ accounts and will not contact customers to verify personal information by phone, email or in person in order to mail a check.

Check ID – Think before allowing them in

When someone comes to your home or business, think before you allow them in and keep the following in mind:

• Impostors posing as utility employees may knock on your door claiming to be employed or hired by Piedmont Natural Gas to repair or inspect your meter or other utility-related equipment. They may also claim that there is a charge for the service and if you don’t pay, they will come back to remove your meter later.


• Be wary of anyone arriving at your property asking for immediate payment or access to your dwelling.


• If we need access to your home or business, the worker will provide proper identification.


• Scam artists claiming to be Piedmont Natural Gas employees are telling customers they have the ability to wipe out entire account balances – for a cash fee. Please know that no one from Piedmont Natural Gas will ever offer to pay your bill in exchange for a fee. Here are valid ways to pay your bill for your home and for your business.


• If you have a question about whether someone is a legitimate representative of Piedmont Natural Gas, contact the company directly at 800.752.7504 to verify the person's identity.


• Call the police immediately if you believe the person is an impostor. If you feel you are in physical danger, call 911.

When making a payment by check or credit/debit card, you will be asked to input the following information securely.

For Credit/Debit Card Payments, we’ll ask for:

• Name
• Piedmont account number
• Payment amount
• Credit/debit card number
• Expiration date
• Name on card
• ZIP code

For Check Payments, we’ll ask for:

• Name
• Piedmont account number
• Payment amount
• Bank routing number
• Checking account number