Beware of Scams
Learn about scams targeting Alabama Power customers and tips to protect yourself.
The Latest Scam
Scammers are at it again, calling Alabama Power customers and falsely demanding immediate payment of an overdue electric bill and threatening that service will be cut – something we never do.
In the latest variation of this old scam, the bogus caller asks for a customer’s bank or credit card information and warns that service will be disconnected if payment is not received within 30 or 45 minutes.
In a variation of the scheme, scammers will sometimes contact customers who recently made a payment on their Alabama Power account and falsely claim the payment did not go through and they need to repay it immediately. The call may even look like it is coming from an Alabama Power office when it’s not.
If somebody says they need an immediate payment, they are not from Alabama Power. If you receive this kind of demand, or if you’re just not sure whether a call is a scam, you should immediately hang up and contact our Customer Service Center.
How to Combat Scammers
An informed customer can combat scammers. Remember these tips to protect yourself from scams:
- We will never come to your door and demand an immediate payment.
- We will never call you and ask you over the phone for bank information or a credit card number.
- Any Alabama Power employee who comes to your door for any reason will have company identification that he or she will gladly show you. If you have any questions about whether a person actually works for Alabama Power, call us and do not let him or her inside your home.
- Scammers sometimes claim they represent a public agency or government office offering grants that can pay your Alabama Power or other utility bill. Never provide anyone making this claim your credit card information, your Alabama Power bill information or account number, or any personal banking information. If someone makes this claim, call us or your local police department to report it.
Know our Texts and Emails
We often send account messages by text or email. These messages are usually helpful and provide you with information that can help you manage your account. They range from billing alerts to outage updates to friendly reminders. Since these alerts are usually specific to your personal account information, you should be cautious when receiving, sharing or responding to them. Here are some tips to help you stay safe and verify us as the sender:
- Text messages regarding your bill will come from the number: 24500 (ALPOWER).
Text messages regarding an outage will come from the number: 272688 (APCOUT). - Email messages regarding your bill will come from the sender: G2alabamapps@southernco.com.
Email messages regarding an outage will come from the sender: do-not-reply@alabamapower.com. - In our texts and emails regarding your account, we sometimes provide links to help you manage your account or to act. Those links will take you to our Online Customer Care (OCC) portal. There you will be asked to log in to your account. If you are suspicious of the text or email, please do not click on any links. Instead visit our website at alabamapower.com and select the log in button to access your account online and to visit our OCC portal.
- We limit personal information from being displayed in our text and email messages to protect you further. We will never display your full service address and account number together in an email or text message. It is usually one or the other.
Do you have questions or concerns about your account?
Contact a Customer Service agent weekdays from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. at 1-800-245-2244. You can also check the status of your account anytime online.
Don’t have an online account with us?
Sign up today and enjoy convenient and secure access of your account anytime, anywhere. Plus, enjoy more benefits and helpful tools to manage your bill and energy usage.