FPL | Protect Yourself
 

Fraudulent Activity and Identity Theft

Update: Unsolicited Energy Audit Calls

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) filed legal action to stop an aggressive marketing scheme targeting customers of FPL and other Florida utilities. The group also may have posed as employees of FPL or approved FPL contractors in order to conduct home energy audits and sell energy-related services or equipment. If you or someone you know received calls or visits of this nature, contact the FDACS Consumer Assistance Call Center at www.800helpfla.com or by calling 1-800-HELP-FLA. Click here to read the announcement from FDACS. We do not solicit our customers by phone to offer home energy surveys or audits. Our energy efficiency experts will only visit your home if you request it and prearrange a time.

Fraudulent Activity

Fraudulent activity can take many forms. Here are some examples: an individual posing as an FPL employee or contractor to gain access to your home; a company representing itself as FPL to solicit your personal information or sell you their products and services over the telephone or through the mail; and, emails/web pages that appear to be from FPL and require you to provide personal information. We encourage customers to protect themselves from suspicious activity. The first step is to recognize fraud, and we offer these resources to help.

What FPL is doing to protect you
At FPL, we have policies and procedures in place to help keep your information private and secure. Read our Privacy Policy and frequently asked questions to learn how we manage that information to serve you.

What you can do to protect yourself
Keep in mind that it is not FPL's practice to come into your home without making arrangements ahead of time, to solicit personal information over the telephone unless you initiated the contact, or to send emails threatening to close your account if you do not take the immediate action of providing personal information.

Here's how to tell it's FPL
FPL employees are regularly in your neighborhood for reasons including reading or working on electric meters, administering energy-saving programs for your home and maintaining power lines.

However, we occasionally hear reports of people posing as FPL employees. Please remember that all FPL employees carry a photo identification badge and our contractors have either a contractor badge or work order letter. Ask to see it if you are in doubt.

In addition, FPL will not send employees to your home offering cash refunds on deposits or electric charges. We either credit your account or mail a check to your electric service address.

If you're in doubt as to whether or not it's FPL, please call us at the phone number listed at the bottom of your FPL bill or contact us online.

When you encounter suspicious activity that involves FPL's name or likeness:

  • Ask to see the photo identification badge or work order letter from suspicious individuals on your property who claim to be FPL employees.
  • Do not provide personal information over the phone unless you called us.
  • Delete suspicious emails that require you to act immediately to verify or update personal information such as bank account numbers, user names and passwords, credit card numbers, and your Social Security number. If you are unsure of a suspicious email, send it to us at abuse@fpl.com to verify its authenticity.

Learn more about identity theft and protecting yourself against fraud.

If you've been a victim of fraud or identity theft
If you have been a victim of fraud or identity theft, it is critical that you report it immediately and take the following actions:

  • Call the financial institutions and credit card companies that you deal with and inform them of the situation.
  • Call one of the three major credit bureaus - Experian, Equifax and TransUnion - to report the fraud and place an alert on your account. The agency you contact will notify the other two bureaus.
  • Call the Social Security Administration if your Social Security Card or number is stolen.
  • Change your PIN (personal identification numbers) and passwords to all of your online accounts.
  • File a police report and get a copy of it for your records.
  • File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at 1 (877) IDTHEFT (438-4338) or online at www.ftc.gov/idtheft and file an Identify Theft Affidavit.
  • Notify us at 1-800-226-3545.
  • Keep a record of what happened and the actions that you took to resolve the issue.