They’re often scams and they’re becoming more common. From the fake energy provider threatening to cut off your power, to the ever popular African prince looking for a bank account to store his millions, scammers are working harder and harder to get their hands on your hard earned money, or worse, your identity.
Scammers often mimic legitimate companies, like Origin, to trick you into opening a fake email, clicking on links, making a payment or even giving away your personal details.
How to stay safe online
Scam emails (otherwise known as “phishing”) set out to deceive people into providing their personal details. These fake emails often include a corporate logo and look like they’ve come from a legitimate company. If you believe you’ve received a scam Origin email, we also encourage you to report it to www.scamwatch.gov.au
If you use My Account to manage your energy online, you should also make sure you have a strong password – and never share that password with anyone. We’ll never ask for your My Account password over the phone, or ask you to send it to us via email.
What should you do if you think you’ve received a scam email?
- Close it and contact us
- Forward the fake email to hello@origin.com.au so we can investigate further
What not to do
- Click on links
- Open attachments
- Download pictures
- Forward the scam email to others
How to spot a scam
Be on the front foot, here’s how you can tell if an email or text is a scam or a real Origin email:
- It might be an email scam if the sender has a suspicious email address.
- Look out for spelling mistakes or bad grammar – these are often a clue that it’s not from us.
- Look carefully at any links – do they point to origin.com.au or originenergy.com.au? We’ve seen scam websites posing under originnergy.com.au so look carefully at the website address.
- The only safe and trusted way for you to pay your Origin bills online is via My Account or the Origin app or at originenergy.com.au/pay. Anything asking you to make an Origin payment outside of those could be a scam.
- If you receive a suspicious email you suspect could be a scam Origin email, the quickest way to confirm whether it’s real or not is to check your account either using My Account or the Origin App. Your most current energy bill and billing history will appear there.
What are the legitimate Origin emails?
It’s important to look out for domain names when opening emails. A domain name is a unique name that identifies a website or an email address. Some common domains that we send emails from include:
- originenergy.com.au – e.g. retail@originenergy.com.au
- origin.com.au – e.g. hello@origin.com.au
- originbroadband.com.au – e.g. help@originbroadband.com.au
- originzero.com.au – e.g. noreply@originzero.com.au
- ecomms.origin.com.au – e.g. origin@ecomms.origin.com.au
- icomms.origin.com.au – e.g. origin@icomms.origin.com.au
- looop.co – e.g. notify@looop.co
- spike.originenergy.com.au – e.g. spike@spike.originenergy.com.au
Emails sent from other domains that may look similar should be treated as suspicious. We also encourage our suppliers to be vigilant when receiving any such requests and to ensure they’re familiar with Origin’s standard supplier process.
Other scams to watch out for
- Emails, or phone calls, involving fake orders or requests for specific parts being sent from individuals claiming to be part of the Origin Procurement team.
- Emails offering you amazing job opportunities. Before offering any positions, Origin undertakes a thorough interview process. This usually involves both face to face and telephone interviews – we also ask candidates apply for roles formally via our website. You can view all of our current opportunities, and sign up for job alerts, via our Careers page.
What can you do if you’ve fallen victim to a scam?
If you believe you’ve been a victim of a scam online, here’s what to do next:
- Call our customer service team on 13 24 61
- Contact your financial institution immediately
- Disconnect your computer from the internet and run an anti-virus scan
- Report it to Scamwatch so they can warn others about the scam email
How to contact us
If you’re concerned about any communications you’ve received, and would like to speak to us directly, you can reach out to us by:
- Calling our customer service team on 13 24 61
- Contacting us via Facebook Messenger (you can be sure it’s us by the blue verified tick) or send us a direct message on Twitter.
Use our app to be sure it’s us
To be sure it’s us, you can view correspondence and pay your energy bills from the Origin App or by logging into My Account.
