New phone scam targets Hydro Ottawa small business customers

Hydro Ottawa is warning its customers about a new phone scam targeting small businesses after it received reports of “suspicious callers” posing as company representatives and threatening to cut power immediately.

The callers are telling customers their power will be disconnected if they don’t pay right away by credit card to have their smart meter — a device used to measure electricity use — upgraded or replaced with an analog meter, a spokesperson for the city-owned utility said.

David McKendry, Hydro Ottawa’s director of customer service, said all the reports came from small business customers – and a small number came from individuals who unfortunately fell for the calls and paid money to the scammers.

“We feel very badly about that,” McKendry said in a phone interview. “It really pains us to see customers who are falling for this. As much as we can kind of blab on about ‘protect yourself,’ … every time it happens, we get people who fall for it.”

Customers began reporting the fraudulent calls on Monday, McKendry said. He couldn’t say exactly how many reports Hydro Ottawa received, but it was enough to “set off the alarm bells,” he said.

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McKendry advised that many (but not all) of the calls reported came from a number that looks almost identical to the utility’s main line (613-738-6400) – except for one digit in the area code: 603-738-6400.

“These folks are tricky,” he said.

While Hydro Ottawa may call a customer if they haven’t paid their bill and ask them to take action, the utility typically doesn’t contact clients out of the blue, McKendry said.

“We do not generally cold call people, instructing them to do things and immediately paying us via credit card,” he said.

On top of that, some callers told business owners to close up shop and vacate their properties for six to eight hours while a worker replaced the smart meter — another request Hydro Ottawa insisted is bogus.

“We don’t do that,” McKendry said. “If anything, we’d want you to be there.” 

McKendry said the company flagged the scam to local police Monday. He urges all customers exercise caution and contact the utility at 613-738-6400 if they’re unsure whether a call is legitimate.

Victims of this scam should immediately call their bank to try and have the charge reversed, he said.

Victims are also encouraged to report their experience to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 and the Ottawa Police Service at 613-236-1222 ext. 5433.

McKendry said Hydro Ottawa is part of a consortium of more than 100 utility companies in North America, called Utilities United Against Scams, working together to combat different scams. The utilities report new scams to each other and share best practices for dealing with fraudulent activity and educating the public, he said.