COLUMBUS, Ohio — Money from FirstEnergy's class action lawsuit settlement is being sent out via an email that raised red flags for consumers. News 5 dove in to see if it was real or a scam.
Random emails offering you money seem too good to be true — and most times they are.
"It was right in my inbox and my personal account saying here, 'click me! I got money for you!'" said John Makley, a Cleveland FirstEnergy customer. "I'm like, wait a minute, who are you?"
That’s why Mackley reached out to News 5's Morgan Trau to verify if the class action lawsuit was legit.
He is one of the many Northeast Ohioans included in a nearly $50 million settlement from FirstEnergy and Energy Harbor, FirstEnergy's former spin-off. Consumers sued the companies because FirstEnergy bribed lawmakers to pass a law benefiting them, which increased the price of their services.
This June, former House Speaker Larry Householder got 20 years in prison for his role in the state’s largest bribery scheme. He accepted a $61 million bribe from FirstEnergy and other utilities in exchange for a $1.3 billion dollar bailout to help their struggling nuclear power plants.
This scandal was covered extensively by News 5, which followed the legislation all the way through the Statehouse, the arrests, trial, conviction and sentencing of Householder and former GOP leader Matt Borges.
"I never recall getting a notice that there was a lawsuit that I could opt out of," Makley said.
Class action lawsuits will typically have a consumer opt-out if they don't want to be part of it. The notices for this specific lawsuit, Smith v. FirstEnergy, were sent last year.
But Makley said he only got the email telling him he was getting a "virtual prepaid card." He got concerned when there was only one way to get payment — clicking a link in the email.
Case Western Reserve University consumer protection law professor Cathy Lesser Mansfield said Makley did the right thing by waiting.
"The problem with it is it's really hard to tell if it's coming from a legitimate sender and if it's really part of the class or if it's some kind of fraud," Lesser Mansfield said. "In most cases, these kinds of emails are fraudulent."
The email
The email was sent by rewards@reward.tremendous.com.
So how do you figure out if it’s fraud or real?
News 5 went to the website affiliated with the settlement, but it had no information about payment as of Friday at 5 p.m. Then, News 5 reached out to the settlement attorneys, and as it turns out, the email is real.
This confusion could have been avoided, Mansfield said.
"There should be an easily identifiable, 'click here to register for your payment' on the website so that people don't have to respond to what looks like a sketchy email," she said.
The attorneys on the case said online payment is the best way to do this because checks are expensive to print and use up settlement dollars.
When asked what he was going to buy with the settlement money, Makley had a laugh.
"I could probably get a couple of gallons of gas or a very cheap lunch from one of the fast food places," he said.
That’s right — the average amount a person gets from this settlement is $15.
"I feel better knowing that it is real," he said. "I'll be confident to claim my lunch money."
No matter if it's $7.87 cents like Makley got — or thousands — be skeptical if someone is asking for personal information.
Find details on the settlement here.
RELATED: FirstEnergy subpoenaed by state for role in $61 million bribery scheme
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