Electricity Scam?

[Maybole]

On Saturday I found a text message on my 'phone purporting to be from the PEA. It was in Thai but a  family member translated it and it was a notification to settle my electricity bill immediately as it was 2 months in arrears. I keep all receipts and I knew I was up to date.

 This morning I went to the local PEA office in Sanpatong with my folder of receipts and showed the staff the message, it was immediately denounced as fake.

 I also discovered that my neighbour had also found a letter in shape of an official looking form in the box which is used by the meter reader to leave the bill.This was also denounced as fraudulent.

My text message require me to log on to a website to settle the bill.

The URL is "www.pea.vz-th.com " and the telepohone number it came from is +66660269886.

I do not know if the attempted scam is local or widespread, but I share it as a warning.

[flyingtlger]

12 minutes ago, Maybole said:

I do not know if the attempted scam is local or widespread, but I share it as a warning.

It's obvious.....

[KhunLA]

Did you ask to speak to higher ups at the PEA office until someone agree with you being current ?  

 

 

Edited January 29 by KhunLA

[northsouthdevide]

The web or email adress doesnt tally up with any domains listed in the international directory. 

Thats unless i missed it while doing a quick search. 

Probably one of those domains that you can buy on the internet. 

Well done to the OP for not falling prey to these scammers. 

[KhunBENQ]

+666... and some others.

Multiple warnings and one or more threads here.

Scam of course.

 

Checked on my PEA app. Just in case 😊 All normal.

Edited January 29 by KhunBENQ

[Dickie Dee]

17 hours ago, Maybole said:

On Saturday I found a text message on my 'phone purporting to be from the PEA. It was in Thai but a  family member translated it and it was a notification to settle my electricity bill immediately as it was 2 months in arrears. I keep all receipts and I knew I was up to date.

 This morning I went to the local PEA office in Sanpatong with my folder of receipts and showed the staff the message, it was immediately denounced as fake.

 I also discovered that my neighbour had also found a letter in shape of an official looking form in the box which is used by the meter reader to leave the bill.This was also denounced as fraudulent.

My text message require me to log on to a website to settle the bill.

The URL is "www.pea.vz-th.com " and the telepohone number it came from is +66660269886.

I do not know if the attempted scam is local or widespread, but I share it as a warning.

Humans are garbage 

[bluejets]

18 hours ago, Maybole said:

My text message require me to log on to a website to settle the bill.

 

............. and therein lies the obvious warning sign.

[AhFarangJa]

This went through our village recently, but in a slightly different form. A receipt was dropped in the letter box. All appeared official, with a QR code to pay. That is when the money goes to a fake account. This was posted a few months ago, so we were wise to it. One crazy thing is when they drop them in the mailbox. It must be the middle of the night as our box is directly outside the shop front gate.

[brianthainess]

I pay by Direct Debit and only get an SMS to say how much it is, I should also get one from my bank but that has stopped for some unknown reason. 

[CecilM]

Thank you for sharing. :)

[BritManToo]

I scan the QR code on my bill, why use any other method?

 

No need to even do that, save your last payment as a 'favourite' on your bank app (water and electricity), the correct payment amount appears every time you select it.

Edited January 30 by BritManToo

[foreverlomsak]

18 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

I should also get one from my bank but that has stopped for some unknown reason. 

Yeah the banks are good at saying we will do, they start off good and then fall by the wayside.

[brianthainess]

1 minute ago, foreverlomsak said:

Yeah the banks are good at saying we will do, they start off good and then fall by the wayside.

So true the only bank that has kept all credibility to me for 20+ years is Krungsri I have never had to contact them for any problems, BKB fail, SBC fail.

[Moonlover]

14 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I scan the QR code on my bill, why use any other method?

 

No need to even do that, save your last payment as a 'favourite' on your bank app (water and electricity), the correct payment amount appears every time you select it.

Same with Truemoney Wallet as well. This potential scam has been reported previously on AN forum. With the ability to check your account balance instantly, it's easy to prove it's a scam and that you safely delete and ignore.

 

37 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

I pay by Direct Debit and only get an SMS to say how much it is, I should also get one from my bank but that has stopped for some unknown reason. 

Every SMS costs money. There's no need to duplicate is there.

[brianthainess]

1 minute ago, Moonlover said:

Every SMS costs money. There's no need to duplicate is there.

Yes it costs money I pay BKB and yet receive none, PEA just send  I didn't ask them to.

I don't understand your point. Phone calls cost money yet Immigration will phone when necessary.

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Yes it costs money I pay BKB and yet receive none, PEA just send  I didn't ask them to.

I don't understand your point. Phone calls cost money yet Immigration will phone when necessary.

My phone calls are all free, but SMS costs money.

[Kalasin Jo]

PEA have their own official app with useful data on historical usage, current bill and payment history as well as an online payment portal.

Once I'd downloaded it from Play store ( as with many apps here eg Immigration you need to be using Google Thailand to do that) and set it up it's easy to use even from Europe as long as you are registered with a Thai mobile number with PEA and your Thai bank. The bank will send you a one time password to that number to complete the transaction so that number's SIM needs to be on and have reception. 

[Paris333]

You can check your bank account if you have paid your electricity supplier.
Never click on links on your computer or smartphone that direct you to websites that you are asked to enter your personal details or your bank card number. If you are not familiar with banking transactions you can give permanent order to the Bank's employee every month automatically the Bank to pay from your Bank account the bill of electricity provider or the bill of mobile phone provider. Its very safe method! Every electronic transaction in Greece (Europe) costs €0.50 cents for online payments and the same is if you give an order (online or physical presentation) to Banks employee. If you want to be jentleman to Banks employees give orders your monthly payments to be completed 5 days before expire date (valeur days), No problem and above all safe! Do not enter sign in your Bank account from PlayStore applications even if its your Bank application. You can safety ender with Chrome browser and after you complete your transaction go on upper screen right side (vertical ...) for : Clear Browsing Data and after make : update Chrome.....1.000% safe.Finally restart your Chrome browser in order to be updated continuesly!

Edited January 30 by Paris333

[Acharn]

On 1/29/2024 at 11:11 AM, Maybole said:

On Saturday I found a text message on my 'phone purporting to be from the PEA. It was in Thai but a  family member translated it and it was a notification to settle my electricity bill immediately as it was 2 months in arrears. I keep all receipts and I knew I was up to date.

 This morning I went to the local PEA office in Sanpatong with my folder of receipts and showed the staff the message, it was immediately denounced as fake.

 I also discovered that my neighbour had also found a letter in shape of an official looking form in the box which is used by the meter reader to leave the bill.This was also denounced as fraudulent.

My text message require me to log on to a website to settle the bill.

The URL is "www.pea.vz-th.com " and the telepohone number it came from is +66660269886.

I do not know if the attempted scam is local or widespread, but I share it as a warning.

We pay our electric bill at an office each month, so I don't know the correct URL for PEA, but any official Thai government site is going to end in "...go.th." This is obviously a scam.

[Maybole]

As I said, I keep all receipts and suspected it from the beginning. In reply to KhunLA, I did not need to speak to any " Higher up", the clerk at the payments counter denounced it immediately on sight.

[Brahmz]

Yes, we too are receiving frequent calls and SMS messages purporting to be from the PEA. These are all fake/scam.

We have been to the PEA. They know nothing and our account is fine.

[The Fugitive]

12 hours ago, Acharn said:

We pay our electric bill at an office each month, so I don't know the correct URL for PEA, but any official Thai government site is going to end in "...go.th." This is obviously a scam.

The URL for PEA; https://www.pea.co.th/en

[RocketDog]

 Nobody has mentioned this yet so I  will. 

It took two trips to PEA office and one to bank to achieve but now I get a bill in my mailbox every month and a receipt matching the bill a few days later.

Automatic withdrawal from my bank account. I do nothing but monitor it for any errors. Two years on and no problems so far. 

[SAFETY FIRST]

On 1/29/2024 at 11:11 AM, Maybole said:

I went to the local PEA office in Sanpatong with my folder of receipts

Get the PEA app. 

 

It bundles all my electricity acoounts (bills) together, then I chose to pay with my Kasikorn app. 

 

They don't sync payment due dates, a couple go overdue but no penalties. 

 

I keep all the app payments in a folder on my computer. 

 

Edited January 31 by SAFETY FIRST

[UKJASE]

thanks for the warning. i am not sure who i hate more than scammers, but the list is quite short!