(GODERICH, ON) – Huron County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is reminding citizens to be on guard if they receive a call requesting payment for an overdue hydro bill. A Goderich resident received one of these calls this week from someone pretending to work for Goderich Hydro. The scammer informed the resident that his account was well overdue and his electricity was going to be disconnected if he failed to immediately pay the outstanding balance.
The scammer instructed the homeowner to pay the bill by either a credit card payment or a wire transfer. The scammer attempted to create a sense of urgency however the homeowner correctly sensed it was a scam and hung up the phone. The scammer in this case requested payment via credit card however in many cases the scammer will request payment through online payment services such as PayPal or through gift cards.
The homeowner in this particular case reported the call was received from a 1-800 toll free number. Be warned, even if you see a local number on your caller ID, scammers will often falsify their phone number so that it appears on a caller ID service to be originating from a local number when in fact the call is actually originating from elsewhere.
If you receive a call from someone claiming to work for a hydro company and they are looking for payment for an overdue account this is most likely a scam attempt. Goderich Hydro reports they do not accept wire transfers or credit card payments over the phone for overdue accounts. In addition, they follow standard protocols that involve several steps and notifications prior to disconnecting hydro services.
You must exercise caution and due diligence if you receive one of these calls. Do not respond by sending personal information or payment information. Also, if you receive an email about an overdue account do not respond by opening up an attachment or clicking onto a link. If you do, there is a high degree of certainty you will be taken to a spoofed website.
Simply hang up the phone or delete the email. After hanging up on the scammer call the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 to report the scam attempt. If by chance you do fall victim to this crime contact Huron County OPP at 1-888-310-1122.