There continues to be warnings that some energy trading companies make calls to different users who are not their clients to get them to change companies. The dynamic will always be the same: they will pass themselves off as your company or indicate that they are the competitor, always saying names of companies known all over the world. They will ask with great insistence for data such as the DNI, the CUPS number of the accountant or bank details. Remember that you should never provide any personal data over the phone.
There are several ways in which they deceive users, sometimes they offer illogical discounts, in others, they pretend to be their current marketer, they say that the contract has expired, they offer social bonuses; always trying to confuse people and induce them to accept the deal or change companies.
If the consumer falls for the scam, the marketer will ask for more details that will allow them to change the contract from their current company to a new one. The problem occurs after a few weeks when the new electricity bill arrives in the name of another company and the conditions are not those offered by phone but completely different ones.
The market control authority denounces in a report that 13% of the cases of change of electricity company are “doubtful”.
How to avoid being a victim of this fraud?
- Do not give out your data unless you are very sure that you want to change companies.
- Before agreeing to anything, ask for a written document, read everything well, especially the name of the company that proposes the change, it may not be yours, and confirm that you have understood it.
- Review all bills. If you see the name of a new company, immediately call your old supplier.
- Make it very clear when you do not want to hire an offer. Say NO. Sometimes, a mere receptivity to the information offered can be “interpreted” by the operator as consent.
- There are cases where someone misleads the user by pretending to be the representative of the current company and asking if they are interested in a new plan. Be careful when answering. A “YES” from you can be recorded and used as proof that the change was accepted.
In case of doubt, it is always best to contact the Reference Marketer by phone to verify the information provided by the person who called you.
What to do if you have been a victim of this scam?
It depends on whether you become aware of it before or after the 14th day from the moment the consent was given by phone to the new offer. Before the 14th it is very simple. Simply withdraw from the offer received. The law guarantees the consumer the possibility of withdrawing from any remote commercial offer in the first two weeks without having to justify anything.
After 14 days, things get complicated because it depends a lot on the type of contract to which consent has been given and, in some cases, it is difficult to prove that deception has occurred. One of the most common problems is that people realize when the first invoice arrives and it has already been more than 14 days since the consent by phone.
If you were our client and you got switched please read this article.
Also, there have been several cases of people who do not even receive phone calls or give their data to another company and still get changed without their consent. These people do not realize the change until they notice that they stop receiving their usual electricity bill and it is since that moment that they begin to distrust.
References
- https://www.elcomercio.es/asturias/guardia-civil-detecta-20201110113530-nt.html
- https://www.ideal.es/sociedad/alertan-supuesta-nueva-estafa-telefonica-factura-luz-20210518125947-nt.html?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ideal.es%2Fsociedad%2Falertan-supuesta-nueva-estafa-telefonica-factura-luz-20210518125947-nt.html
- https://www.elperiodico.com/es/economia/20210621/aviso-comercializadoras-luz-llamadas-informacion-falsa-11842952
- https://www.bdv.cat/es/noticies/vuelven-las-estafas-telefonicas-relacionadas-con-las-companias-de-la-luz-y-el-gas
- https://www.companias-de-luz.com/noticias/fraude-comercializadoras-luz-espana/
- https://es.greenpeace.org/es/noticias/llamadita-electricas-para-venderte-timo-tarifa/
- https://www.antena3.com/noticias/economia/peligrosa-estafa-telefonica-factura-luz-claves-caer-ella_202203286241c3a6b436ab000170fd86.html
- https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20211021/factura-luz-electricidad-abuso/2198120.shtml
