BOGUS PHONE CALLS believed to be part of a scam are being made to energy customers.

The Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) says that only businesses have been contacted so far but domestic customers could also be called and should be on alert.

A number of businesses have been called in the past couple of days from persons claiming to represent either a supplier or ESB Networks. There appear to be a number of variations -

• the first is that the caller represents the supplier and that payment is due on their account, in order to avoid disconnection.
• the second is that the caller represents ESB Networks and a meter exchange programme is being conducted, for which the customer must pay.

CER says that in both cases the caller requests credit card details for payment.

They also provide a phone number for the customer to call them back on. However, it appears that this number can only be reached by the use of a mobile phone and therefore it is possible that there is also some sort of scam involving premium rate calls.

The CER’s Commissioner, Aoife MacEvilly, said: “The Commission takes its customer protection duties very seriously and advises customers to be aware of any such bogus callers.

The CER recommends that customers communicate with their suppliers and ESB Networks only using the phone numbers and addresses provided on their bills.

“Suppliers must give a minimum of ten days’ notice to domestic customers and five days’ notice to business customers before a disconnection. We have alerted all the suppliers along with ESB Networks and Gas Networks Ireland and we urge customers to be vigilant.”