Man thought he was paying power bill by phone; he got a scammer instead

When West Hants resident Drew Kaulback wanted to pay his Nova Scotia Power bill, he did what most people do: he searched for the phone number online.

A toll-free number popped up as the first result and he called it.

The number was not, in fact, the utility but instead a sponsored link for an elaborate scam that would leave him scrambling to secure his accounts.

The man who answered asked him for his account number and birthdate as identification and asked if Kaulback would prefer to pay by credit card over the phone or by email transfer.

Kaulback opted to pay by card.

Before he gave out his card number, he asked the scammer to prove that he was working for Nova Scotia Power by telling him the date of his last bill, the amount that was owed and how much was paid.

The man put Kaulback on hold briefly and came back with the correct information. Kaulback is unclear how the scammer managed to get that information.

Reassured, Kaulback provided his card details and was told that he might have to approve a text message from his bank for the payment to go through.

When no text message arrived, the scammer asked Kaulback to call his bank and approve the payment. 

Bank spots scam

Still believing the scammer, Kaulback put him on hold, called his bank and asked the bank representative who answered to approve the payment.

She told him his card showed a pending payment for $692 but in U.S. funds and the bank had “intercepted and blocked it,” he said.

The bank representative told him it was almost certainly a scam.

Kaulback asked the representative to cancel his card and returned to the call on hold.

He chastised the scammer, telling him, “You should be ashamed,” and hung up.

Casey Spears, the social and digital adviser for Nova Scotia Power, told CBC Radio’s Information Morning Nova Scotia in an email that the utility has been receiving an increasing number of calls about fraudulent websites, ads and phone numbers.

“Our IT and cybersecurity teams are aware of the issue and continue to monitor daily,” Spears said.

“They have initiated several domain takedowns via Google, but unfortunately, these scams are sophisticated and move quickly, often only operating for only a day at a time, which makes it difficult to achieve.”

Jeff Horncastle, the client and communications outreach officer at the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, told Information Morning Nova Scotia the sponsorship tactic is very common.

Power company websites

He said the tactic often specifically targets power companies across the country, including Ontario Hydro, Hydro-Quebec and B.C. Hydro.

He said scammers pay to promote their website so it appears in top results during online searches, making it more likely that unsuspecting people will click on it.

Horncastle said the presence of a website in the top search engine results is no guarantee of legitimacy or quality.

“Thoroughly verify the link and contact information,” he said.

“Sometimes you want to pay attention to spelling. Fraudsters will often create websites that look official. Just take your time and make sure that you’re on the official website for the company in question.”

Horncastle said anyone affected by online fraud or wanting to report a fraudulent website should visit the centre’s website.

According to an emailed response from Google, the company has very strict ad policies and a misrepresentation policy that does not allow ads or links that deceive users.

“Scams are prohibited on our platforms and when we find ads that breach our policies we take immediate action, including removing the ads and suspending advertiser accounts when necessary, as we did in this case,” a Google spokesperson said in the email.

Kaulback, meanwhile, says he is still in “damage control mode” and is working to lock down all of his accounts.

“I‘m not feeling great at all and I just can’t trust anything over the phone,” he said.

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