Police warns: scammers offer electric meter exchange services

Recently, scammers have started to use a scheme to extort money by introducing themselves as an employee of Eesti Energia or Enefit, claiming that the electricity meter needs to be replaced. While most people hang up when a suspicious caller is asking for PIN codes or sending a courier to collect money, one lady recently fell victim to this scheme by handing over €17,000 to a criminal who came to the door.

Urmet Tambre, Head of the Criminal Bureau of the Northern Prefecture, said that in recent weeks there has been an increase in cases of Russian-speaking scammers calling people, posing as an employee of Eesti Energia or Enefit, claiming that their electricity meter needs to be replaced because of the desynchronisation of the Estonian and Russian electricity grids.

"In some cases, to cover the cost of changing the electricity meter, they ask people to enter their PIN codes on their phones to agree to the meter change. In reality, this is how scammers gain access to a person's bank account and take all the money in the account," said Tambre.

In other cases, the scammers use a scheme where the call from the energy company is followed by a quick call from the bank, but in reality it is the scammers who are behind this," Tambre said. The scammer, posing as a bank employee, tells how the previous call from Eesti Energia or Enefit was made by scammers and now they need to take urgent action to protect the account. To do this, they are again asking to enter PIN codes to access the person's money. There have also been cases where scammers send a courier to a person's door to collect cash from their home and take it to a safe place in the bank. In reality, the courier is sent by the scammers, and all the phone calls are also made by scammers trying to swindle money from people.

This is what happened last week when a woman in Tallinn fell victim to such a scheme and handed over €17 000 to a scammer who came to her door, knowing that the money would be taken somewhere safe to protect her from scammers. In reality, however, she handed the money over to the scammers themselves. Further details of the incident will be clarified by the police in the course of the procedure.

Santa Tohver, Head of Enefit’s Estonian Market said that their customer service staff always speak in Estonian and do not ask customers to enter their Smart-ID or Mobile-ID PIN codes for any reason. "Enefit does not offer an electricity meter exchange service at all, and there is certainly no need to exchange an electricity meter because of desynchronisation from the Russian electricity grid," she confirmed.

"Anyone can see their bill information on Enefit's self-service or can ask for it by calling our customer service. If in doubt whether the caller is really an Enefit employee, disconnect the call and call our customer service number 777 4040 yourself to make sure," Tohver advised.

If you suspect fraud or have been a victim of fraud, call 112.

Urmet Tambre, Head of the Criminal Bureau of the Northern Prefecture, added that in no case will any institution ask people over the phone to enter their PIN codes and hand over their savings to a courier at the door. "If you suspect you are dealing with a scammer, hang up. If you have already shared your PIN to a scammer or made an arrangement to hand over cash, contact the police immediately by calling 112.

In January alone, more than half a hundred people in Estonia fell victim to bank fraud, with losses totalling to almost €400,000.

The scheme by which criminals operate: