Fraud Protection

Your Personal Safety and Financial Security are Important!

By phone, online and in-person, scammers are getting creative. It’s up to all of us to be vigilant to keep our personal and financial information safe.

Virginia Natural Gas and the entire Southern Company Gas family of companies are joining energy companies across the United States and Canada to expose the red flags of a scam and how customers can protect themselves.

In recent years, scammers have expanded their schemes into digital spaces, such as email and social media. Virginia Natural Gas strongly encourages customers to be skeptical if anyone:

• Threatens to cut off their natural gas service if payment is not made within a short timeframe
• Requests that payments be made from a single method, such as a debit card, pre-paid card, or checking account
• Claims they have overpaid and their banking account or credit card number is needed for a refund
• Informs them of a need to vacate their home so that a meter or other natural gas equipment can be replaced
• Suggests on social media that their bill will be covered by a charity after they make a partial payment by way of a wire transfer

Virginia Natural Gas reminds customers that representatives will never use aggressive or intimidating tactics to pressure them into making a payment toward their natural gas bill.

• By phone: When a customer service representative contacts a customer by phone regarding the status of their account or to discuss payment, they will identify themselves as a Virginia Natural Gas employee. To verify legitimacy, customers can request that the representative confirm information about their account that only they and the company would know, for example:
  • The date of their last payment
  • The amount of their last payment
  • Their account number
• By email: We will never ask for account or credit card information in an email. Customers can safely access and make changes to their account information and payment methods using our My Account online portal.

Customers who suspect or experience fraud should contact local authorities, and then call the customer care center phone number listed on their billing statement.

In addition, whenever a field service representative or one of our contractors visits a customer’s home or business, they will provide Virginia Natural Gas identification. As an additional safety measure to protect our customers, anyone who signs up to receive our Keep Me Informed appointment status text messages can access a photo of the technician assigned to perform work at their property.

Follow Virginia Natural Gas on social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) and join in the conversation #StopScams.