AGL “My Monthly Bill”; Malware Email
The original site is no longer online; links go to the Internet Archive copy.
The claim
“Paperless Statement” email purporting to be from Australian energy provider AGL supposedly includes a summary of your monthly bill and urges you to click a link to view your current statement in detail.
What the fact-checkers found
The email is not from AGL and the link does not open a power bill statement. It is a criminal ploy that tries to trick you into visiting a compromised website and downloading malware. This is just one in a series of fake AGL bill emails that have been used to distribute various types of malware. Typically, the malware payload is ransomware.
This”Paperless Billing” email, which purports to be from large Australian energy provider AGL, supposedly, contains a summary of your latest energy bill. It claims that you can click a “Current Statement” link to view bill details and manage your account.
However, the email is not from AGL and clicking the link does not open an energy bill statement. In fact, the link loads a compromised website that contains malware.
This example is just one in a series of fake AGL bill emails that link to malware. Typically, the malware payload is ransomware. Once installed, ransomware can encrypt all of the files on your computer and then demand that you pay a fee to online criminals to receive a decryption key.
AGL has published a warning about the scam emails on its website.
If you receive one of these emails, do not click any links or open any attachments that it contains.
Got a similar message?
Paste it into the detector and see whether it matches a known hoax.
Check a similar messageRelated fact-checks
Browse the archive →Bogus AGL Electricity Bill Email Points To Torrentlocker Ransomware
The email is not from AGL. It is a criminal ruse designed to trick you into visiting a compromised website and downloading Torrentlocker ransomware.
Paypal ‘You Sent a Payment’ Malware Emails
The emails are not from Paypal and the claim that a payment has been sent from the recipient’s account is a lie. Links in the emails open compromised websites that harbour information-stealing malware.
Telstra “Refund Bill”; Phishing Scam
The email is not from Telstra. The promise of an unexpected refund is the bait used to trick you into clicking a link in the bogus message. The link opens a fraudulent website that asks you to provide a large amount of your personal and financial information.