Fake utility / electric / gas / water service termination payment scam — non-official sender impersonates an electric, gas, water, internet, or cable company claiming the recipient's account is overdue or past due and service will be disconnected within hours unless immediate payment is made — often demanding prepaid gift cards or directing calls to a fraudulent billing department

Phishing emails impersonating electric, gas, water, internet, or cable utility companies falsely claiming the recipient's account is overdue, past due, or unpaid and that service will be disconnected within hours unless immediate payment is made — often directing victims to call a fraudulent billing department or purchase prepaid gift cards to "settle" the balance. No legitimate utility company demands prepaid card payment or threatens disconnect within hours by email. Key facts: (1) FTC 2023: utility impostor scams caused $92M+ in losses; electric utility impersonation is consistently in the top 5 government/business impostor fraud categories; (2) The extreme time pressure ("service cut in 2 hours," "call immediately") is a deliberate psychological technique to prevent victims from calling their real utility company to verify; (3) Legitimate utility companies send written notices by mail days or weeks before disconnection and offer payment plans — they never contact customers via cold email demanding gift card payment; (4) These attacks spike in summer and winter when utility usage is high and households are more dependent on uninterrupted service. Warning signs: sender domain not matching official utility company, disconnect threat within hours, gift card or prepaid card payment request, pressure to call a number embedded in the email.