Fraudsters are once again posing as employees of the Giessen public utility company. Their main aim appears to be to extract sensitive data from their victims.
The next wave of fraud is rolling in: Telephone fraudsters are currently trying to persuade customers of Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG) to hand over personal data. So far, SWG is aware of two different methods used by the suspected fraudsters: In one case, an unknown female person - who calls the telephone number 0261 199 099 64 - pretends to be an employee of SWG. She initially offers a cheap electricity tariff and then asks for the victim's account details during the call. In the second scam, a dodgy caller - here the number is not known - tries to find out the meter number and the meter reading.
"Nobody should give out such sensitive information over the phone. We at SWG would never ask for it. After all, we have all the necessary information," explains Ina Weller, company spokesperson for SWG. And SWG would also never use the telephone to offer tariff changes or enquire about meter readings. If customers receive calls of this kind, Ina Weller advises them to simply hang up and not get involved in a conversation. "That's not rude, it's an appropriate response," she continues.
Help requested
SWG is asking anyone who has received such or similar calls or will receive them in the future to report them to SWG Customer Service. "The more we learn about the fraudsters and their methods, the better we can protect our customers. With reports like this or by involving the police," adds Ina Weller. Anyone wishing to report an attempted scam can call the SWG service number 0800 2302100.