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Scam alert

CenterPoint or Entergy Shutoff Call? Hang Up and Check

Updated · First posted

Houston and Louisiana · tampa.gov · Arrives by a phone call or a text

The short answer

A call or text demanding payment right now to stop a shutoff is a sign of a scam, even when caller ID shows your utility's name or its real call-center number. In October 2026, Idaho's attorney general said calls, texts, and emails about planned outages were handing out fake Idaho Power numbers, and City of Tampa Utilities said callers may be spoofing its call center number. CenterPoint and Entergy say a real disconnection comes after advance notice. Hang up and call the number printed on your bill.

What is happening

On October 15, 2026, Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador said nearly 400 Idaho Power customer accounts had seen fraudulent activity, with calls, texts, and emails about supposed planned outages giving out fake Idaho Power phone numbers, callers asking for personal information they then used to change accounts, and some customers paying deposits and fees to people threatening to turn off their power, as KHQ also reported. In October 2026, City of Tampa Utilities in Florida said callers claiming to represent it were demanding immediate payment over the phone, and that some calls appeared to come from its own Utilities Call Center number, which may be spoofed, as WFLA also reported. Around Houston, CenterPoint Energy said in a September 15, 2026 securities filing that an unauthorized third party had obtained personal information relating to a portion of its customers, as FOX 26 Houston and ABC13 reported, and in Louisiana, KPLC reported in June 2026 that a Sulphur business owner lost $1,000 after a caller posing as Entergy sent her to a store to pay with a barcode.

How to recognize it

  • The call or text demands payment right now or says power or gas will be cut off today, often within the hour.
  • Caller ID shows your utility's name or even its real call-center number. City of Tampa Utilities and CenterPoint both say callers can fake this.
  • The caller wants your card number on the call. City of Tampa Utilities says its staff send card payments to an online tool, so no card numbers are exchanged with them.
  • The caller uses your name, address, or account details as proof that the call is real.
  • The caller says the bill is unpaid, even though you know you paid it.
  • A call, text, or email about a planned outage gives you a different number to call. In Idaho, those numbers led to people who asked for personal information.
  • A website offers unusually low monthly power rates and asks for personal or financial details. Idaho's attorney general says such sites then quickly disappear.
  • You are told to pay by prepaid debit card, gift card, a payment app, or a barcode scanned at a store.

What to do instead

  1. Hang up, or do not reply to the text. You can check your account without anything the caller gave you.
  2. Call the number printed on your bill, or sign in through the company's own website or app, and ask whether anything is overdue. Entergy's customer line is 800-ENTERGY (800-368-3749). In Tampa, call the Utilities Call Center at (813) 274-8811 or check utilities.tampa.gov. Idaho Power Customer Care is 208-388-2323 (Treasure Valley) or 800-488-6151.
  3. If your electricity bill comes from a retail electricity provider, as it does for most homes around Houston, call that company on the number on the bill.
  4. Do not pay with a gift card, a prepaid debit card, a payment app, or a barcode at a store, whatever reason is given.
  5. If you are a CenterPoint customer, expect letters, emails, or texts about the data incident itself. Reach CenterPoint only through the number on your bill or its own website, not through a link in a message.
  6. If you want to tell someone, the rule is: hang up on any shutoff call and call the number on your bill.

If it already happened

Responding to one of these is common and understandable. These steps are what people usually take next.

  1. Paying after a shutoff threat is common and understandable. These calls are built to leave no time to check.
  2. If you paid, call your bank or card issuer straight away and ask whether the payment can be stopped. For a prepaid card or a store barcode, call the company named on the card or receipt as well.
  3. Call your utility on the number from your bill, tell them what happened, and ask them to note it on the account. Entergy points out that money paid to an impostor does not count toward the real bill, so ask what is actually owed.
  4. Keep the phone number, any receipt or barcode, and the time of the call.
  5. Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to your local police. In Idaho, you can also file a complaint with the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division at ReportScamsIdaho.com.
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Common questions

The caller knew my account number. How can it not be CenterPoint?
CenterPoint confirmed in September 2026 that some customers' personal information was obtained by an unauthorized party, and it has not said which details were involved. Knowing an account number no longer proves who is calling. Hang up and ring the number on your bill.
Would a power company really shut off service the same day?
Not without warning. CenterPoint says it mails an overdue bill and then a disconnection notice with a date and time, and Entergy says it does not disconnect without considerable advance warning. A demand to pay within the hour is the part that does not fit.
Why would a caller send me to a store with a barcode?
A barcode scanned at a store turns cash into a payment the caller controls, quickly and in a way that is hard to reverse. The Federal Trade Commission has warned that real utility companies do not send a barcode and insist you pay at a store.

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CenterPoint or Entergy Shutoff Call? Hang Up and Check

A call or text demanding payment right now to stop a shutoff is a sign of a scam, even when caller ID shows your utility's name or its real call-center number. In October 2026, Idaho's attorney general said calls, texts, and emails about planned outages were handing out fake Idaho Power numbers, and City of Tampa Utilities said callers may be spoofing its call center number. CenterPoint and Entergy say a real disconnection comes after advance notice. Hang up and call the number printed on your bill.

Read the full alert: https://endscamsproject.com/latest-scams/power-shutoff-call-scam

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