CHENNAI: Have you got an SMS asking you to contact a specific number to pay your unpaid EB bills or your power will be disconnected? Beware, it may be a phishing scam to empty your bank balance.
Chennai residents over the last week have been getting fake messages from unknown numbers with a common template, saying their power supply will be disconnected by 10:30 pm as their bills have not been paid. The message says it is from ‘EB office’ and asks to contact the phone number given in it.
Bharath Raghunathan, of West Mambalam, said he got the message on Friday despite him not having any EB dues. “I tried reaching the number, no one answered. I tried local EB office, and had no response,” he said. Suresh Somasundaram of Tondiarpet too got the same message and when he called the number, a unknown person asked him to pay 1500 to their GooglePay account. “I told them that I have already paid my bill and hung up,” he said. Meenakshi, another resident too said she got the message on Friday and her husband went to the EB office where they told him to ignore the message.
Confirming that this is a fake message, Tangedco in his website has posted the message and said it is not originating from Tangedco. “We request consumers not to respond to such messages,” it read. Officials said Tangedco only asks for online payment through its portal or to pay at its EB office. “Tangedco does not seek payment of bills to any phone number. We also send intimation through mail and Tangedco message header in SMS” said an official.
K Vishnu Mohan Rao, senior energy researcher , CAG, said with rise in digital payments, Tangedco must conduct regular awareness measures against such phishing drives. “They can distribute pamphlets through line men on right pays to pay bills. They can give advertisements in media against such phishing attacks,” he said. Vishnu said people are vulnerable to believe such messages since they fear their power would instantly be cut if they don’t pay. “If this is addressed, then people too won’t believe such messages out of anxiety,” he added.
