An insidious twist on an old scam has reached Monterey County. PG&E is warning residents that dozens of customers in the county have fallen victim to scammers threatening immediate shutoff of their power unless payment is made at once.
Emerging scams are closely monitored by the utility company, said Jason King, a PG&E operations communications representative, during Monterey County’s weekly news briefing July 8.
King said a longstanding scam that threatens customers with immediate disconnection if they don’t pay right away has been updated. Unlike earlier versions, scammers now demand instant payment through digital platforms such as Zelle or Venmo.
In some cases, scammers have instructed customers to send a wire transfer, use a Green Dot prepaid card, or go to a store and make a payment using a barcode or QR code they provide.
“What’s different about this new scam is after making a call to a customer and threatening disconnection—they send a barcode or a QR code via text or email, and they instruct the customer to go to a business like a Walmart” and present that barcode to a cashier for payment, explained King. “What that then converts into is a prepaid debit card that the scammer can syphon money from immediately.”
Sixty-one customers in the county have fallen victim to the scam through the end of May this year, King said. PG&E customers this year have lost $210,000 to scammers, an average of $969 per customer, according to data provided by the county.
Nearly 150 incidents have been reported during the same period across the Central Coast in 2026, with the highest numbers in cities such as Salinas, which had 37. Santa Cruz reported 24 incidents, while Watsonville reported 19 incidents, and Santa Maria reported eight incidents. Of the five coastal counties, Santa Cruz County accounted for the most cases, with 67. San Luis Obispo County had the least at three, San Benito County seven, Santa Barbara County nine.
While this particular scam appears to be indiscriminate, King said, it taps into the alternate ways that seniors and residents in certain communities use to make their utility payment, such as going in person to a local store.
Older adults make up a growing share of Monterey County’s population. By 2030, one in four county residents will be 60 or older, according to the County of Monterey Department of Social Services, which cautioned earlier this month that county staff are seeing a lot of scam issues (in particular romance scams) targeting seniors, who are particularly vulnerable.
What to do if you receive a threatening call
King said if a customer is contacted by a caller threatening to cut off their power unless they pay right away, to first, take a deep breath, remain calm, and then—hang up.
“If you get a call like that, we want our customers to hang up,” King said. Customers can call PG&E customer service to confirm their billing details or login to their account online. Suspected scam calls, emails or in-person contacts can be reported at pge.com/scams.
“PG&E will never ask you to make payment using a specific payment method,” King said.
Reporter Roseann Cattani covers community news for Salinas and the Monterey Bay area. You can reach her at rcattani@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: PG&E warns of scam impacting Monterey County customers
Reporting by Roseann Cattani, Salinas Californian / Salinas Californian
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Roseann Cattani, Salinas Californian | USA TODAY Network
