Scammers impersonating PG&E have pocketed more than $211,000 from Bay Area customers through mid-2026 — and they've added a new trick: texting barcodes or QR codes to victims and telling them to walk into a store to pay a cashier.

The barcode scheme is a deliberate evolution of the classic disconnection-threat phone scam, designed to route around the public's growing awareness that legitimate utilities don't ask for credit card numbers over the phone. By pushing victims into stores with a scannable code, scammers get their money through retail payment kiosks while creating physical distance from any digital trail. PG&E is on pace to exceed last year's total scam losses — and the utility's own investigators say small and medium businesses are now squarely in the crosshairs.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company's lead scam investigator put it plainly: "Scammers are constantly evolving their tactics to defraud customers."

Matt Foley, who holds that title at PG&E, made the statement as the utility went public last week with a warning about a new barcode and QR code payment scheme. The emerging con works like this: a scammer calls a PG&E customer claiming their account is past due and service will be cut immediately unless payment is made now. The caller then sends a barcode or QR code via text or email. The customer is told to take that code to a nearby store or business and hand it to a cashier — who processes the transaction against a scammer's account.

The tactic is notable for what it sidesteps. Years of public education campaigns have drilled one message into utility customers: don't give payment information over the phone. The barcode method acknowledges that lesson and routes around it. Victims aren't handing a card number to a stranger on a call — they're walking into a familiar retail environment and completing what feels like a routine transaction.

"What hasn't changed is that they are still demanding immediate payment of your bill to avoid disconnection," Foley said. "If you receive a call of this nature, hang up. If someone at your door asks to see your utility bill, close the door. Then, call our 800 number or log into your account at PGE.com to verify your billing details."

PG&E customers have now lost more than $211,000 to scams through the first half of 2026 — a pace that, if it holds, would surpass the full-year 2025 total, according to the utility. That financial toll lands on customers already absorbing some of the steepest rate increases in the utility's recent history. PG&E's own CEO acknowledged this spring that bills could climb another $840 per year by 2030.

Small and medium businesses, the utility warned, are a specific and growing target. Scammers concentrate their calls during peak business hours, when owners are preoccupied and the threat of losing power — and customers — sharpens the pressure to act fast. "Scammers focus their efforts during busy business hours, preying on business owners' sense of urgency to keep the doors open and the lights on," PG&E said in a news release.

The San Jose Police Department confirmed it is investigating the barcode scam incidents. "Criminals continue to develop new and more sophisticated ways to pressure people into sending money," the department said in a statement to NBC Bay Area. "The common thread is urgency. Scammers often try to create panic by threatening shutoff, arrest, penalties, or other immediate consequences unless action or payment is made right away."

PG&E says it will never request payment via barcode, QR code, prepaid debit card, gift card, cryptocurrency, or third-party apps like Zelle or Venmo. The utility also won't send a single notification within one hour of a service interruption. Customers who suspect they've been targeted should call 1-833-500-SCAM or contact local law enforcement. Those worried about whether someone at their door is actually a PG&E employee can call 800-743-5000 to verify.

Customers with delinquent accounts, PG&E notes, always receive advance disconnection notification — typically by mail and included with their regular monthly bill. An out-of-the-blue call demanding same-day payment is, without exception, a scam.