Enbridge Gas says they’re working to help keep their customers safe, after an increase in calls over suspicious emails.
The emails in question inform the customer that they’re qualified for a refund for overpayment and then have a link or attachment that the customer has to click and then possibly enter information from their utility account, or banking or credit card information.
Andrea Stass, who is a spokesperson for Enbridge Gas, says that the utility company has been made aware of the phishing emails, and says that “What I can confirm is that these are not legitimate Enbridge Gas emails. We don’t communicate with customers in that way. We feel they might be phishing or spoofing attempts to try and get people’s personal information or banking information.”
She says that phishing and spoofing attempts can be sophisticated, but there are ways that customers can keep themselves safe.
For example, if the email in question was not expected, or no other contact has been had with the utility company, then it is suspicious.
If the email is from an address with numbers or contains spelling errors, then it may not be real.
Stass says that these fraud messages may also simply address the recipient as “Dear Customer” or “Dear Sir/Madam”.
She adds that if you receive an email that doesn’t seem genuine, reach out to the company to ask about it.
The utility company also has security measures in place to keep its customers safe.
“We have a lot of security steps in place to protect people’s personal information. We did just roll out multi-factor authentication, which is a way to further way to protect your information, so if you’re a customer, I encourage you to use that and put that in place.” says Stass, adding, “We have information on our website. We have a dedicated consumer protection page that people can look to to help identify and protect themselves from fraud.”
If you feel as though you’ve been a victim of a scam like this one, you can contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.
Enbridge offers the following tips to help identify fraudulent emails:
. The email is unsolicited and comes from a suspicious email address such as “donotreplay3594@enbridgegas.com”
. The message contains a generic greeting such as “Dear Customer” or “Dear Sir/Madam”
. The message contains links or attachments
. The message requests personal information, such as a credit card number or account password
. The message contains spelling errors
. he message has a heightened sense of urgency – such as “claim your refund now”
Enbridge Gas is also taking the opportunity to remind customers that the company does not sell natural gas door-to-door; sell, rent, or service natural gas appliances or smart thermostats, and company representatives will never come to your door and ask to see your natural gas bill or have you sign a contract.