Dodgy telemarketers are increasingly up to mischief in Giessen. They are trying to obtain sensitive customer data or sell electricity contracts. Stadtwerke Gießen would ask you to report any suspicious calls.
New scams, old targets: There is currently a massive number of dubious telephone campaigns in Giessen and neighbouring municipalities. Dubious callers are constantly trying to persuade customers of Stadtwerke Giessen (SWG) to hand over sensitive data with new, fictitious stories. For example, a male call agent pretended to be an employee of SWG and claimed that there was a new electricity tariff for which noCO2 price had to be paid. In another case, a female person introduced herself as an SWG employee. Her fairy tale: The fixed price of the electricity supply contract would supposedly expire. Naturally, the woman asked her potential victim for the meter number so that she could make a new offer. "Apparently the aim is to entice people to sign another contract over the phone or to hand over sensitive customer data," suspects Ulli Boos, company spokesperson for SWG. The calls described sent the telephone number 0157 35992158 or 0171 7501330.
In another case, a customer received three mysterious calls from Info Vergleich on her mobile phone within a very short space of time. The brazen method here: The dubious telemarketers claimed that the family's current electricity tariff was ten euros too expensive per month. They also provided an absurd reason: SWG had allegedly increased the price per kilowatt hour to almost 30 cents. They also claimed that Info Vergleich represented more than 400 suppliers in Germany. They are not satisfied with a "thank you, no interest". Instead, they strongly recommend reconsidering the whole thing. And announce that they will be in touch again in the next few days. These calls were made to the following numbers: 0157 35991822, 0157 35991743 and 030 166385133.
Another company, Prima Bonus, is also harassing innocent citizens. Their scam also seems to involve registering customers with another electricity provider against their will. SWG is aware of one case in which the potential victim explicitly mentioned that they did not want to switch. The response to this was that SWG would remain the supplier and only the billing would come from Prima Bonus. "It could hardly be more brazen," says Ulli Boos. He therefore strongly advises: "Never give out personal details on the phone and cancel such calls - without comment if you have to."
Support requested
To SWG's knowledge, the current massive wave of such unsolicited calls began almost a fortnight ago. In order to do what they can to combat this, SWG is asking those affected to make a note of the callers' telephone numbers, contact SWG and describe the case in question. "The more precisely we know about the callers' methods, the better we can warn our customers in advance, prevent them from falling for similar stories and, if necessary, press charges against the fraudsters," adds Ulli Boos. SWG accepts such reports either by telephone on its service number 0800 2302100 or as a text message to its WhatsApp number 0151 15213066.