Pseudo electricians

[DronVR]

Pseudo electricians

Our trust in representatives of government agencies, including those such as Energosbyt, is too great. That is why it is worth them to come, as we affably open the doors and let them in. Only a few allow the idea that under the guise of an electrician who came to conduct a routine inspection of meters and wiring, a fraudster, or even a robber, may be hiding. A form, a few words about the forced check and ... you are left without a large amount of money ... Moreover, after their arrival there is a risk of fire in your apartment ... Who are they and how to protect yourself from them?

Pseudo-Electricity Scams
Have you been knocked on doors demanding access to a meter, sockets and wiring for inspection? Do not rush to open the doors and open your wallet. There is a fairly high probability that this is not an electrician who is trying to check your electrical panel, but a fraudster who intends to scam you for money.

The pattern of attackers is almost always the same. A man in overalls, and sometimes even without it, comes and reports that he is here to check the wiring due to the frequent cases of fire in your area or in connection with the replacement of meters. You probably saw an ad in the entrance? So, aware that he should come.

Many do not even call the organization from which they came, or they say some name that may pass for the truth, for example, “Electricity Network”. Most of them, without any doubt, let in an “electrician” and give him complete freedom of action, all the more so since they warned him of his arrival in the announcement. How do they know that the ad is fake, and the "specialist" here is not for verification at all?

And then ... then it all depends on how the fraudster works. Some really do some things, replacing the counters in the dashboard or some parts in your apartment, arguing that the old ones are out of order or fire hazard. Moreover, it is not at all necessary that these actions are really needed. But they will tell you for a long time what enormous overpayments await, if you do not change the meter, how your electrical wiring “worn out”, how a couple of houses caused a fire in your apartment due to the wiring being disconnected. How can one not believe and disagree here? True, the price is very affordable, but what to do ... security is more expensive ... Alas, not only will such “specialists” rip you off three times more for their services than official services, but on the contrary, they will expose you to fire. They have zero experience, no knowledge either. So what kind of security can we talk about?

Other scammers decide not to bother with the work of replacing meters or wiring, but act in a different way. They just take money for a perfect check, or they demand to give a certain amount, which they will go to and buy everything necessary for reinstalling some elements in your apartment, but in fact they will immediately evaporate, you just have to give them the required 2-4 thousand rubles .

It could be worse. Some attackers, posing as electricians and thus gaining access to the apartment, rob the residents, taking out money, jewelry, and small appliances, while the owners are in another room and are doing their own thing.



Cases of Deception and Theft
Scams with pseudo-electrics are gaining momentum. Services in many cities of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine already officially warn that fraudsters who have come to check or replace meters under the guise of an official energy sales official should beware.

There are a lot of cases of fraud. And even in spite of the fact that some law-enforcement authorities manage to detain some malefactors, the number of victims only increases. So, a 24-year-old resident of Petrozavodsk, introducing himself as an electrician, committed 12 thefts, stealing gold jewelry and large sums from 10 thousand rubles from pensioners. In Omsk, a man, convincing people of a malfunction in their meter, took 4 thousand rubles to buy parts and hid. In Tomsk, another pseudo-electrician changed non-defective equipment to similar equipment, moreover, in violation of the installation order, and performed simple work at a cost of up to 100 rubles. For his services, the "specialist" took from 1,200 to 2,600 rubles.

How to recognize a swindler
Already in almost every city in the Russian Federation fraudsters are operating under the guise of an electrician. Therefore, you should be on your guard. If a person also knocked on you with a message about checking the meters, outlets or wiring at you and replacing them if necessary, do not let him in thoughtlessly right away. Even if an announcement about it hangs down the staircase. Who knows, is it really a city official or a fraudster trying to get money from you? Finding out this will take only a few minutes, and it is better to lose a little time and look meticulous than to lose money then, and even pay extra for the alteration after the unfortunate master. All you have to do is:

1. Pay attention to whether a person is dressed in overalls.
2. Check documents, in particular the identity card of an organization employee. It should contain the following data: number, name of the employee, structural unit where he works, his position, validity of the certificate. Be sure to see if the document has a stamp, whether the photo corresponds to the person who came to you.
3. Considering how developed the market for fake documents is, one should not sigh of relief if everything is in order with the certificate. It is possible that it may be fake. Therefore, the best defense is to call the service that serves your area and find out if your checks are really planned. If the answer is no, feel free to slam the doors or call law enforcement.

A few minutes of time and a little caution, and you will reduce the risks of cheating you to a minimum. Do not neglect the above verification methods, and you will not become another victim of intruders that you have smashed for money or robbed.

Source: @ Typical rogue