A scam in which a caller purporting to represent BC Hydro threatens to cut power unless immediate payment is made on account arrears nearly cost a White Rock businessman $2,000.
Youseff Khattab, owner of King Koin Laundry, said the caller he spoke with on April 7 “told me for the last four months that we didn’t pay anything,” Khattab said.
“I took it seriously. Fortunately… I realized at the last minute it was a scam.”
Khattab said he was given 30 minutes to attend to the arrears, and to call back with the access numbers for pre-loaded “power pack” gift cards.
“Once you load it, you can’t get it back,” he said.
While Khattab understood that the cards were a BC Hydro product, utility spokesperson Moira Scott said BC Hydro does not offer prepaid cards. However, some prepaid credit cards are marketed as a “power pack,” she said.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with BC Hydro,” Scott said Tuesday.
She said BC Hydro continues to hear from “a lot” of customers reporting the scam.
A public alert was first issued by the utility in September, and again in October. In February, Peace Arch News reported on a South Surrey businessman who wanted to warn others after he was targeted.
Scott said three to five per cent of the more than 1,200 who have been targeted have lost money to the scam.
She noted B.C. is not immune to the problem, which has cropped up across Canada and in the U.S.
A push to get the word out about it continues, including through social media and on BC Hydro’s website. Anyone doubting the authenticity of a call regarding their account should hang up and call back to BC Hydro, at 1-800-224-9376 (1-800-BCHydro). Account balances can also be checked via the utility’s website, www.bchydro.com, through a MyHydro profile.
