Fake utility worker at the door: how to verify before you open
Impostors posing as utility or health workers get inside homes to steal or harvest IDs and selfies. Recent cases, red flags and how to verify a visit.
Someone in a uniform and badge says they are here to check the meter, a leak or mosquito breeding sites. It may be true. But fake utility worker scams exploit that trust to get inside, steal valuables or, increasingly, collect ID documents, personal data and a selfie later used to open accounts and take out loans in the victim's name.
What do recent cases show?
In July 2025, Minas Gerais Civil Police in Brazil arrested a man suspected of posing as an energy company technician. According to Estado de Minas, he asked residents for personal data and a selfie for a “records update”, then, police say, accessed bank accounts, took out loans and financed cars in victims' names: seven victims, mostly men aged 60 to 70, and losses over R$100,000. In July 2026, two men were arrested near Campinas, Brazil, suspected of posing as dengue control agents to steal from older residents.
What are the red flags?
Utilities United Against Scams, a group of more than 100 North American utilities, lists them: an unexpected visit, no company ID or a homemade uniform, a demand for immediate payment, a claim of a dangerous leak to get inside, and one person distracting you while another enters.
How do you verify a visit?
- Talk through the door, intercom or window first.
- Ask for photo ID and call the utility yourself using the number on your bill or its website, never a number the visitor gives you.
- Never pay at the door, hand over documents or take a selfie for anyone.
- If you feel threatened, call 911 (190 in Brazil, 123 in Colombia).
If you already shared data, alert your bank and consider a credit freeze (see identity theft in the US). The phone version is covered in the utility shutoff scam; more in Protection tips and the Radar.
Source
- Estado de Minas — Falso técnico de energia é preso por golpes de mais de R$ 100 mil em MG (jul/2025)
- Correio da Manhã — Golpe dos falsos agentes da dengue na RMC (jul/2026)
- O Popular — Saneago alerta sobre golpe do falso funcionário
- Alcaldía de Bogotá — Enel Colombia alerta por suplantación de funcionarios (jun/2025)
- Utilities United Against Scams — Consumers' Guide to Impostor Utility Scams