WASHINGTON – Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) cautioned his constituents about a widely circulated email scam that falsely claims to be from the Department of Energy. The fraudulent email attempts to entice victims by claiming to offer a refund on energy bills. 

 

“The public should be on the alert for any emails that claim to be from the Department of Energy and promise to issue energy refunds,” Stupak said. “The Department of Energy does not collect revenue from the public through email and they do not issue refunds by email.”

 

Stupak said the bogus emails are designed to look legitimate and even appear to originate from the email address “refund@energy.gov.”   The email instructs the victim to click a link, which could infect a computer. Clicking on the link could also direct victims of the email to an online form, where the victim is prompted to provide personal information that could be used for identity theft. 

 

“Constituents who receive these fraudulent emails should delete them immediately,” Stupak noted. “As winter brings rising heating bills to northern Michigan, I would urge consumers to be wary of this email scam, which preys upon consumers who are paying a great deal in heating and energy costs.”

 

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission estimates that as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. 

 

10/2/2007:

 

The Department of Energy is aware of suspicious activity, involving a phishing email scam, targeting the general public. The email erroneously claims to be from the Department of Energy forging the email address <refund@energy.gov>. This email account does not exist. The scam attempts to entice victims by claiming they are eligible to receive a refund. The email instructs the victim to click a link which could infect a computer or provide an opportunity for someone to collect any information that is entered onto the form. The Department of Energy does not collect revenue from, or issue refunds to, the general public via email.  

 

The latest scam email may appear similar to the following:

 

 

 

After the last annual calculations of your bills we have determined that you are eligible to receive a refund of $480.58. Please submit the refund request and allow us 2-3 business days in order to process it.

 

 

 

 

 

The Department of Energy encourages the public to practice safe computing by avoiding opening attachments and links found in unsolicited emails.