Fake EPS power bill emails reported to Interior Ministry
The email is headed “Electricity Bill” and carries a highlighted “ELECTRICITY BILL” field. EPS says it never sends customers notices with payment links.
Emails posing as an electricity bill are reaching people across Serbia, and their goal is to get the recipient to open a link and hand over personal data. Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) said in a statement that this is a phishing campaign, a scam in which the look of a message is borrowed from the company whose name it carries.
What does the fake message look like?
According to the example published with the warning, the message is headed “Racun za elektricnu energiju” (Electricity Bill) and addresses the recipient as “Postovani” (Dear Sir or Madam). The text says that “the electricity bill for guaranteed supply is attached.”
The message also contains a prominent field reading “RACUN ZA STRUJU” (ELECTRICITY BILL), which the recipient is meant to click. That click is the point of the campaign, and it is followed by requests for the recipient’s data.
What does EPS say about its own messages?
The company stressed that its emails have nothing to do with this campaign:
“‘Elektroprivreda Srbije’ has not changed the way it sends or the content of its electronic messages and never sends customers notices with payment links.”
This is the most practical test. If a message presented as coming from EPS asks for a click on a link to pay, it does not come from the company, since by its own account it does not send such notices to customers.
EPS has reported the case to the authorities. The statement reads:
“EPS has notified the National CERT and the Interior Ministry (MUP) High-Tech Crime Department about these phishing emails”
The National CERT is the body that monitors security incidents on the internet, and the MUP High-Tech Crime Department deals with criminal offenses committed through computers and networks. The statement does not say how many messages were sent or how many people clicked the link.
Is every email with an electricity bill fake?
No, and that is where scammers count on confusion. EPS does let customers sign up to receive an electronic bill by email, so the fact that a bill arrived by email does not make it fake. The difference is the payment link, which EPS does not send.
Households and small customers can view and pay their bills through the official portal and the “EPS Uvid u racun” (EPS Bill View) app. If a message arrives that looks as though EPS sent it but asks for a click on a link, check the account balance directly on that portal, not through the link in the email.
What does EPS advise?
The company appeals to recipients:
“We urge citizens who have received such messages not to open suspicious links, and above all not to leave their personal data,” EPS said.
In practice, that means not entering a payment card number, personal details, passwords or any other confidential information in such a message.
