{"success":true,"data":{"id":"utility-deposit-refund-phish","label":"Fake utility company (electric, gas, water) claiming a security deposit refund is ready and requiring bank account routing number verification via email to receive the credit — credential-harvest and bank-drain fraud; real utility deposit refunds are applied as account credits or mailed as checks, never via cold email routing-number collection.","description":"Fake utility company (impersonating electric, gas, water, or energy providers such as Con Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric, Duke Energy, National Grid, or regional utilities) claiming a security deposit refund is ready and requiring the target to verify their bank account routing number via email link to receive the credit — credential-harvest and bank-drain fraud. Real utility security deposit refunds are applied as a credit to the customer's bill, mailed as a check, or returned to the original payment method under state utility commission regulations; cold emails requesting bank routing number submission to \"receive\" a deposit credit are bank-account-takeover attacks. Distinct from rental-deposit-refund-phish (landlord/rental deposit modality) and utility-smart-meter-upgrade-phish (meter upgrade pretext) — this targets the utility company security deposit refund / routing number verification narrative. Detection: utility/electric/gas/water/energy + deposit refund ready/credit + verify bank account routing number vocabulary + no List-Unsubscribe + no In-Reply-To + not protected sender. Trash score: +3. Source: GC1-R27; CPUC utility deposit refund regulations; FTC utility impostor scam advisory 2025; AARP utility deposit fraud alert.","tier":"danger","category":"phishing","isThin":false}}