Absolutely do not follow this request if you encounter someone pretending to be an electricity official.

1. Tricks of impersonating electricity industry officials

Recently, Lao Cai Electricity Company said it had discovered a sophisticated scam when some subjects impersonated electricity industry employees to call customers with the reason of "changing customer codes", and at the same time asked people to provide personal information and install strange applications to update the new codes.

One of the people directly approached was Mr. Cao Huu Cuong, currently the Deputy Head of the Lao Cai Regional Electricity Management Team. During the call, the subject claimed to be a customer service employee and gave false information that from July 2025, all old customer codes would be canceled and replaced with new codes. If the update was not made, customers might not be able to pay their electricity bills and even have their electricity cut off.

Warning about scams impersonating electricity employees after unit mergers. Photo: Khanh An

The next trick used by the subjects is to ask customers to install an application of unknown origin and transfer calls to another person pretending to be a "colleague" to make friends on Zalo and continue to manipulate and guide fake updates.

When Mr. Cuong expressed doubts about the risk of losing money in his bank account, the subject quickly reassured and played on people's psychology by offering an alternative "solution" such as going to the post office to process the new code, in order to strengthen trust and easily exploit sensitive information.

Previously, Hanoi Electricity Corporation (EVNHANOI) also warned of an increase in cases of impersonating electricity employees to defraud and appropriate customers' assets, taking advantage of information about the reorganization of the operating model according to the new administrative boundaries of the capital.

Accordingly, EVNHANOI has reorganized 30 district power companies into 12 regional power companies. However, this process has become an excuse for scammers to impersonate electricity officials to commit acts of appropriating people's property.

Common recorded tricks include: calling, texting, and video calling, claiming to be EVNHANOI officials or employees of the regional Power Company to provide instructions on updating information after the merger.

The subject requests customer code, citizen identification number, bank account, OTP code or suggests people install strange applications containing spyware.

In some cases, they even came to people's homes, pretending to be electricity industry employees, to check meters, request to re-sign contracts or collect fees under the pretext of "post-merger conversion".

2. Actual warning from the electricity industry

A representative of Lao Cai Electricity Company said that this was a calculated trick, especially dangerous when taking place in the context of administrative unit mergers, causing people to lack official information and easily fall into fraud traps.

The electricity industry also confirmed that there are no plans to change customer codes en masse as the scammers have suggested. The company recommends that people do not provide personal information, passwords or OTP codes to anyone, and avoid downloading applications of unknown origin.

In case of receiving suspicious calls or messages, customers should immediately contact EVNNPC customer care center at 1900 6769 or go directly to the local power unit for timely verification and support.

EVNHANOI also affirms that it does not carry out any information update, account authentication, password or OTP code collection via phone, text message, email or unofficial channels. At the same time, the unit does not send links asking customers to self-declare information or install applications outside the official system. In case of needing to work directly, EVNHANOI employees always carry a letter of introduction, wear uniforms and present industry cards in accordance with regulations.

EVHANOI encourages customers to be vigilant against unexpected calls and messages.

In the face of the complicated situation of counterfeiting, EVNHANOI recommends that people absolutely do not provide personal information, bank accounts, OTP codes or identification documents to anyone without clear verification. In any suspicious situation, customers should proactively contact Customer Service Center 19001288 or email: [email protected] for timely checking and support.

Although the act of impersonating electricity employees is not new, it is showing signs of a sudden increase with increasing sophistication. Statistics from the EVNHANOI Customer Care Center show that in 2024, there were more than 3,300 calls reflecting strange calls claiming to be electricity industry officials. Notably, in just the first 5 months of 2025, this number exceeded 14,300 cases - more than 4 times the previous year.

To prevent this, EVNHANOI is working closely with the police and local authorities to disseminate, detect and strictly handle violations. At the same time, the Corporation will continue to promote warning communications through many channels such as website, fanpage, radio... to protect the rights and property of customers.

EVNHANOI also recommends that people be vigilant and proactively share warning information with relatives and friends to avoid risks. The restructuring is an internal activity, does not interrupt electricity usage and does not affect committed services. All customer rights are still fully guaranteed, continuously and unchanged.

The Department of Information Security (Ministry of Information and Communications) recommends that people should note:

- Be wary of calls and messages from unknown sources.

- Absolutely do not provide personal information via phone, Zalo, or SMS.

- If you receive a payment request, please check the information through the official channels of the electricity company such as the website or customer support center.

- In case you receive a message or email containing a payment request link, please check its authenticity and avoid accessing these links immediately.

- Absolutely do not download applications of unknown origin from websites sent by strangers.

- Ensure payment through methods recognized by the electricity company such as through banking applications, e-wallets, or direct payment at official collection points. EVN Electricity Corporation has been implementing electricity bill collection through EVNHCMC application, e-wallets (Payoo, Airpay, MoMo, Viettel Pay, VNpay, VNPT EPay...), Internet/SMS/Mobile Banking, Website/Application of banks (especially through automatic debit of banks).

- If you feel suspicious about a call or text message, contact the power company immediately to confirm the information. In case you become a victim of a scam, you need to immediately report to the police for timely support and resolution.

Talking to reporters of the Knowledge and Life Newspaper about the penalty framework for the above fraudulent acts, lawyer Nguyen Ngoc Hung - Head of the Ket Noi Law Office (Hanoi Bar Association) said that the act of impersonating an Electricity employee to appropriate money from others may be punished for the crime of Fraudulent appropriation of property according to the provisions of the current Penal Code. It can be understood that fraud to appropriate property is an act of using deceitful tricks such as providing false information (not true) to make the owner or manager of the property trust and hand over the property for the purpose of appropriation.

Lawyer Nguyen Ngoc Hung - Head of Ket Noi Law Office (Hanoi Bar Association).

According to Article 174 of the Penal Code, anyone who fraudulently appropriates another person's property, depending on the severity and nature of the violation, will be subject to different forms of punishment, including non-custodial reform for up to 03 years, imprisonment for up to 20 years or life imprisonment. At the same time, they may be fined up to 100 million VND, banned from holding positions, practicing a profession or doing certain jobs for up to 05 years or have all assets confiscated.

The first act of fraud to appropriate property that has not yet reached the level of criminal liability shall only be subject to an administrative penalty. According to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 15 of Decree 144/2021/ND-CP, an individual who uses deceitful tricks or absconds to appropriate property or when it comes to returning property due to borrowing, lending, renting property from others or receiving property from others under a contract, despite having the conditions and ability but deliberately not returning it shall be fined from 02 to 03 million VND. In case an organization commits the above act, it shall be fined from 04 to 06 million VND.

Source: https://khoahocdoisong.vn/tuyet-doi-khong-lam-theo-yeu-cau-nay-neu-gap-doi-tuong-gia-danh-can-bo-dien-luc-post1555176.html