Customers have been warned by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to be wary of scammers who request money from mobile money accounts in order to provide ECG services like debt remission, meter installation, or replacement.
Customers complained that they received calls from unknown numbers telling them to pay money to have their meters installed or replaced, which prompted the warning.
The company does not have a mobile money account, thus clients should ignore anyone requesting payment through these means, according to Ing. George Amoah, General Manager of ECG in the Ashanti West Region.
“They reach out to customers via social media or phone calls and ask customers to make a payment to certain mobile money numbers for their meters to be installed or replaced. In some instances, they claim it’s an installation fee and end up impersonating ECG officials like the District Manager, accountant or Technical Officer,” Ing. Amoah emphasised.
In light of the implementation of ECG’s cashless system, he underlined that all transactions must be started using the ECG PowerApp or the short code *226#, which enables payments free of mobile money fees.
Assuring the public that ECG is collaborating with security authorities to trace and arrest fraudsters, Ing. Amoah voiced alarm over their increasing activities.
“Just last week, some fraudsters called a customer who had applied for a meter with ECG to pay 900 Cedis for the meter to be installed. The customer paid the money, and the fraudsters demanded an additional 500 Cedis as an installation fee to the Momo number 0508058638.
However, the customer became suspicious and visited our office at Adum for clarification before he realised these fraudsters were not officials of ECG, and they stopped picking up his calls. There was a similar incident at Breman, where an old man paid 2,000 Cedis to fraudsters who also stopped picking up his calls after receiving payment. We are liaising with the security agencies to bring these perpetrators to book,” he stated.
According to him, fraudsters have used numbers like 0531807230, 0508790801, 0543803302, and 0532752541 in cases like these that have been recorded in the districts of Adum, Kokoben, Suame, Danyame, Abuakwa, and Ahinsan.
Customers must first finish their wiring with certified electricians, submit documents to the ECG Office, and pay a registration cost of 100 Cedis, according to Ing. Amoah, who was educating the public on the correct process for applying for a meter.
“Once the quotation is ready, you will receive an SMS from ECG with a unique code telling you how much to pay depending on the service requested. If you want to pay via the ECG PowerApp, you will initiate the transaction yourself, but ECG will not call you that your meter is ready, so send money to someone’s personal account or any mobile money number,” he mentioned.
He added that consumers shouldn’t give money to contractors that install meters.
“Replacement of faulty meters is free, so no customer should pay money to any person who calls or demands payment for a meter to be replaced.”
In response to complaints that ECG lacked meters, Ing. Amoah stated that availability had improved after the launch of the Loss Reduction Project (LRP).
“With the introduction of the Loss Reduction Project, ECG has enough meters to service customers who pay for service applications and has commenced the replacement of faulty meters to enhance customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and reduce our losses,” he clarified.
