Fake light and gas contract scams are on the rise: here’s a guide to recognize them and defend yourself
With the advent of the Free Market for electricity and gas, users have the opportunity to change supplier by choosing the best offer. A great opportunity for millions of Italian citizens, but also for fraudsters who have seen a new opportunity to steal money from users by offering false contracts light and gas. A scourge that in recent years has affected thousands of people and grows more and more every day.
The SosTariffe.it Observatory has launched an investigation to understand the phenomenon and has drawn up a decalogue to be followed in order to recognize and defend oneself from a scam. Activating a false light and gas contract is a danger from many points of view, first of all economic: as SosTariffe.it reports, in some cases users risk losing hundreds of euros. The other great danger concerns personal data: with the promise of activating an advantageous electricity and gas contract, scammers collect personal information (e.g. name, surname, identity card number) that can be resold on the dark web. Here is everything you need to know about electricity and gas contract scams and how to recognize them.
Fake electricity and gas contracts: how to recognize scams
What are the most frequent scams in the energy sector? How to recognize them? What do you risk? These are the questions that a user should ask himself before signing a new contract light and gas. Unfortunately, it is increasingly frequent to read news about false electricity and gas offers that affect the elderly and the weakest people. Scammers have become real experts in the field and have more weapons at their disposal to carry out the scam. At the moment there are three most used tools: the door to door, call centers and phishing.
The door to door does not need much explanation, it is a type of scam that has been going on for several years. The scammer comes to the house convincing the user to change the supplier of electricity and gas guaranteeing savings in the bill. Savings that in many cases are not true. In other occasions, with the excuse of activating a new contract for the supply of electricity or gas, the scammer enters the house and steals gold and silver objects.
Also the call center scam has become a regular occurrence for Italian users. The most frequent scam is the “yes” scam: the operator forces the person to say “Yes” or “I confirm” and the words are manipulated to activate a fake electricity or gas contract.
Finally there is the phishing scam. This is a very dangerous computer scam that is difficult to recognize. Usually you receive an email from a supplier with very advantageous offers and with the possibility to activate them in a few minutes directly online. In reality, behind the email address are hidden fraudsters who have the sole objective of collecting personal data of users and credit card data.
What do users risk
The energy&gas sector is one of the most affected by scams and frauds. A phenomenon that is constantly growing and that affects above all the weaker parts of the population that are not able to recognize a scam and that, pushed by the idea of saving on the electricity and gas bill, subscribe to the new “fake” offer.
What do users risk? The most important damage is economic: the activation of a new contract and the withdrawal from the old one can involve the payment of a penalty of 27 euros. Al danno economico si può aggiungere anche il furto dei dati personali e della carta di credito. In pochi minuti l’utente si può ritrovare con il conto corrente svuotato e un danno calcolabile in migliaia di euro.
Come difendersi dalle truffe sui contratti luce e gas
L’Osservatorio SoSTariffe.it ha stilato anche un decalogo per proteggersi dalle truffe dei contratti luce e gas. Dieci semplici regole che permettono di capire velocemente se l’offerta che ci viene proposta è reale oppure si tratta di un raggiro.
- Non comunicate il POD e il PDR a persone che non conoscete o di cui non vi fidate
- Non firmate documenti e contratti in modo frettoloso
- Attenzione a chi inviate immagini della bolletta
- Non fate entrare nessuno in casa
- Non comunicate dati sensibili se non conoscete l’interlocutore
- Attenzione a chi fornite i dati della carta di credito
- Non aprite link che rimandano ad altri siti
- Non consegnate denaro agli operatori del porta a porta
- Non data retta a chi vi dice che siete obbligati a cambiare fornitore
- Per telefono non dite mai “sì” o “confermo” se non siete sicuri.
Seguendo queste semplici regole siete al riparo da truffe e raggiri.