City Power is warning all customers about a fraudulent SMS currently circulating and falsely claiming to be linked to the Free Basic Electricity (FBE) Programme. The message, which instructs recipients to dial a specific code to “collect” an FBE voucher, is a scam.

Our systems do not generate any SMS of this nature, and the City of Johannesburg Health and Social Development Department does not request approved customers to use USSD codes or external links in order to receive FBE benefits. Once applications are successfully processed and approved, customers receive their allocation automatically as part of their next prepaid electricity purchase slip, which will indicate that they are recipients of the benefit.