Tag: electricity

April 18, 2020

Time-Wasters Update

“Do you want SEO proposal? We are UK based agency”. That’s the headline and content from a standard SEO (search engine optimisation) email of which the radio station gets hundreds every week. There may be something true in the email, but they are not UK based, English is not the first language of the sender, they have no proper company name, the email address is taxclubfirst which makes no sense with this email and the supposed writer Julie Ryan almost certainly doesn’t exist – just a randomly selected name for a fake email address. Sad and pointless.

Felix, the Chief Compliance Officer at one of Canada’s foremast cryptocurrency exchange platforms wants to pay me $9.5 million. That’s a nice thought but never heard of him or his fake company and he doesn’t even know my name. Shame the $9.5 million only exists in the mind of a scammer.

Even with the Coronavirus catastrophe happening, some scammers want to create fear over other catastrophes they invented. One is about a water shortage and says 50% of the American population could die within months. Scammers like to frighten people but it’s all just rubbish intended to get people to watch a random video for which the sender is paid by the click. He claims 393,527 patriots have already watched it but it’s just pathetic.

“ECOPOWER. The device that cleans your dirty power. A new household friendly plug-in that cuts your horrendous electricity bill”. This is a high profile campaign to get people to part with their money for a useless gadget. Something you pug in cannot possibly turn “dirty” power into “clean” power as it still has the same supplier. Fancy graphics and testimonials are all made up and devices aren’t going to reduce anyone’s energy bills.

“Many doctors can’t believe their eyes”. Is the title for yet another diabetes scam email. There’s no reason to think that people with diabetes are any more gullible than everyone else but so many scammers seem who target diabetics and the scams are always simple and stupid. Diabetes type II has become far more prevalent in the last couple of decades as we all get fatter – so there is a big market for these scams. This latest message says ‘Every patient who ate this fruit saw their blood sugar drop by 91% almost immediately”. No they didn’t. Fruit cannot possibly have such an effect. The ‘cure’ for diabetes type II is not in finding some miracle ingredient but in cutting back on sugar intake, losing weight and living a healthier lifestyle.

Do click on the Facebook or Twitter icons on top right to follow Fight Back Ninja.

July 15, 2019

The Electricity Scam

This is about people who turn up on your doorstep offering cut price electricity for those who have pre-payment meters.

Users of these meters buy keys to top-up their meter and scammers can clone the keys and then resell them. They typically offer the keys at half price so the householder thinks they are getting a good deal. However the scammers often sell the same key to numerous people and each key number can only be used once so the purchasers end up paying for the cloned key then again the full price for the electricity as the Electric companies register that the key has already been used and hence payment is due.

Action Fraud believe that more than 110,000 households have been affected by this crime already.

Customers of all the leading energy companies – including British Gas, EDF Energy, E.ON, Npower, Scottish Power and SSE – have been affected.

Never buy your electricity from someone who knocks at your door. Electricity companies do not sell electricity top-up door-to-door.
Always buy your electricity from official outlets – PayPoint, Payzone and The Post Office.

If you’ve enjoyed this post or found it useful then do share – click on the post title then scroll down to the social media share buttons.

July 14, 2019

Stupidest Scam of the Week Secret Switch

The message title is “The Hidden Switch That Even Big Energy Execs Are Using”.

Sounds worth reading – but it isn’t.

It claims that recent documents have revealed the existence of a secret ‘switch’ in homes that can cut electricity consumption up to 79%.

The scam is obviously aimed at Americans but it also says that everyone in the world who is frustrated by how much they pay for electricity has the right to see this.

Now, all homes do actually have a switch that can reduce their electricity bills – it’s called the OFF switch.

Turn off your appliances, turn off the lights, turn off everything electrical and your bills will drop massively.

But that’s not the switch our scammer is talking about.

So, I’ve searched for this ‘hidden’ “secret’ switch.

Is it in the laundry basket? No

Is it in the cat’s litter tray? No.

Is it buried in the back garden? No.

Is it under the mattress in my bedroom? No.

Is it in the toilet cistern? No.

I give up. I cannot find it.

But then there is no such switch, just a criminal intent on finding the most gullible people to steal from.

Pathetic.

Do enter your email address and click on the subscribe button on top right to keep up to date with new posts.

August 29, 2016

The Fake Gas and Electric Bills Scam

Many of us get electric and gas from the same company and get bills online.

Most pay by direct debit but some chose to pay those bills online and it’s those people that this scam is aimed at.

We received two such bills – the first claiming to be from “Gas & Electricity Invoice” but actually from ibloch.sysbet @ gtstelecom.ro

The email layout is very similar to British Gas bills and has lots of text culled from a British Gas (to add authenticity). It says we now owe £436.68 payable immediately by clicking a link which actually goes to a fake website asking for payment.

The second such email (with exactly the same date and time) claims to be from British Gas but is actually from jglee @kuilprec.co.kr and has a very similar layout and similar text copied from British Gas.

This one demands £417.96 payable immediately.

If you do pay gas and electric bills online then check carefully any bills you receive to ensure they are genuine and don’t ever click to make payment. Instead go to the relevant website and find the invoices and payment section or print and pay at your bank.