The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has advised its customers to conduct transactions only through its official channels, such as the PowerApp, shortcode *226#, and its offices.
This warning comes in response to an increase in complaints from customers receiving calls from unknown numbers asking them to deposit money into ECG bank or Mobile Money accounts for services like meter replacement, installation, or debt cancellation.
Ms. Christina Jatoe-Kaleo, the Volta Regional General Manager of ECG, clarified that ECG does not operate a Mobile Money account.
She urged customers not to engage with individuals asking them to send money to ECG mobile money accounts for service access, as these are fraudulent activities perpetrated through social media and phone calls.
“They reach out to customers via social media or phone calls and ask them to make payments to certain numbers or bank accounts for their meters to be installed or replaced. In some instances, they claim it’s installation fee and end up impersonating ECG officials like the District Manager, Accountant, or Technical Officer”, she explained.
Ms. Jatoe-Kaleo further indicated that “with the introduction of the ECG cashless and paperless systems, customers are to initiate transactions or access our services through the ECG PowerApp or shortcode *226#.
These systems allow customers to access ECG services and control their payments without any MoMo charge or E-levy, so customers should not fall prey to fraudsters.”
She assured that her outfit is collaborating with security agencies to track down and apprehend these fraudsters.
“Just last week, some fraudsters issued a fake press release to the GRA Customs Training Academy at Kpetoe and later told them to pay GhC1,140 as an installation fee for three meters to the MoMo number 0508058638. However, the officials of the training academy reported the incident to our office which we later forwarded to the security agencies”, she said.
Ms. Jatoe-Kaleo added that attempted fraud incidents have been reported in Ho, Kpando, Hohoe, Denu, and Sogakope Districts and that “some of the numbers used for such fraudulent activities include 0531807230, 0508790801,0543803302 and 0532752541.”
She appealed to customers to refrain from engaging with middlemen and to remain vigilant for fraudulent activities by scammers. She urged customers to report any such incidents to the nearest police station or ECG office.
Ms. Jatoe-Kaleo appealed to the public to help protect ECG poles against bush fires and transformers from people who vandalize them “to steal valuable components since these activities can lead to prolonged outages which will affect both ECG and its customers”.