Kelowna Restaurant Owner Warns of FortisBC Scam

A Kelowna restaurant owner wants the community on alert after nearly being scammed out of $6000.

Bill, the owner of a restaurant here in Kelowna, said that he recently received a fraudulent call claiming to be from FortisBC. The caller said that the bill was late, and that they were going to disconnect the power to the restaurant unless he paid them $6000 right away.

“He was really slick,” said Bill, saying that the scam artist had him “hook, line, and sinker.” The caller demanded payment by debit card or cash, but thankfully, Bill didn’t have his debit card on him. If he had, however, he said that he would have given it right then and there.

Once he contacted his wife and got the card, the restaurant owner was instructed to buy a card from a local Safeway to pay, and that’s where he got suspicious. Bill then called FortisBC directly, who told him that the restaurant was in good standing and that there were no plans to disconnect the power.

In an interview with KelownaNow, FortisBC confirmed that there has been a recent scam going around the Interior and Surrey, in both their natural gas and electricity operations.

In fact, Fortis has received four calls from Kelowna about the scam just since Monday. There hasn’t been a specific targeted area in the province, and Kelowna is one of the largest markets. There has also been at least one call about the scam from Osoyoos.

Nicole Bogdanovic, a communications advisor from FortisBC, said that the company had received calls about a version of this scam in January and again now, as has BC Hydro.

Fortis is seeing both residential and business customers targeted by this scam. The customers are being told to call a specific number and provide credit card details, often on an answering machine or by going to a post office. Generally, Bogdanovic says that the scammers are asking for bill payment using a pre-paid credit card.

“That should be a flag for customers,” said Bogdanovic. “FortisBC would never threaten to immediately disconnect a customer and ask for a payment using a pre-paid credit card.” For overdue accounts, she says that Fortis would always send multiple notices and work with customers to set an acceptable payment arrangement. “We do everything we can do avoid any kind of service disruption. We would have to exhaust all payment options with the customer before we would ever take that step.”

The pre-paid card has been the biggest trigger, but Bogdanovic also says that asking for immediate payment with no prior notice is something to watch out for as well. In some cases, customers have been told they had to pay within 45 minutes or face being cut off.

Each case can vary, so be on alert. If customers are getting suspicious phone calls, Fortis suggests getting the person’s name, hanging up, and then calling Fortis directly through one of the toll-free numbers on their bills. FortisBC can verify the account, let the customer know if a payment is overdue, and then work with the customer for a payment arrangement that’s most convenient to them.

You can also report fraudulent calls to your local police department.