Scammer energy calls

So a friend got a call when I was around and so overheard I heard much of it (she was quite happy that I did), and then hopefully I have reassured her that it was indeed a scam.

But it is hard work.

They somehow claimed to be from her energy company, now I did not hear the start exactly, i.e. if she gave away the name of the company or they knew/guessed.

The gist of the call was simple, they were supposedly over due paying, and would be cut off tomorrow (Sunday). The caller claimed they had stopped a direct debit, and were now £6000 in arrears, which had to be paid.

Now my friend was not totally stupid, she asked them to confirm the customer number, and they did. That is the scary bit. Now, I have no idea if energy companies have some system allowing details for things like that for take overs and so or that allow this information to be obtained, or if, perhaps, previously they had managed a call and extracted this, or a data leak or what. But she did what seems to be a very reasonable check.

The problem is, and this is where scammers have a good chance of something like this, there is an issue with the smart meter not reporting properly, and so they have done estimated bills and been told readings. Sadly this is what makes the scam more plausible - months of estimated readings could be a sudden surprise bill.

This was very upsetting, but she said to email the statement please. She did not go for the pay over the phone so as to avoid being cut off next day. One of the main reasons she did not fall for it is that the scammers did not know that £6000 was, in this case, implausible. Had it been electricity not gas, maybe, but no way for gas in their case.

Now, checking carefully - step one, googling the CLI says SCAMMER, which is a clue.

Checking on-line energy bill accounts, DDs working, last DD a couple of days ago, no outstanding balance. Yes, estimated readings but checking and they are actually within around £10 of reality. So clearly a scam. Also a tad unlikely coming to cut off on a Sunday, and a tad unlikely an overdue account without any statements or demands first.

But some people would have been fooled. Indeed, had it been a few hundred, my friend may have been, even.

I am, however, surprised such scams work - how do they get the money? A card payment could be clawed back, surely. A bank transfer would not match the name or the known bank details. How do scammers actually make money out of this?

So watch out there please.