A resident of Mindalore reached out to the News recently afraid that an electricity scam is doing the rounds, and wanted to warn other residents.
Mr Grobler* said that he was contacted by someone from the ‘Johannesburg head office’ about two days ago who said that he needed to pay to have a prepaid electricity metre installed at his house.
“They told me that I should have installed the metre about three months ago already and at this moment it was urgent,” he told News journalist Natasha Pretorius.
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The caller then asked Grobler if he had online banking to do an electronic transfer of R2 560 for the installation of this metre.
When he said he did not have online banking, the person suggested he go to a local supermarket to do a money transfer to their account. Once the money had been transferred he had to call the number that they sent him via a SMS and someone, a Kyle or Ellis, would be sent to install the metre.
He also informed them he had solar panels and an inverter whereby they told him they will have to send someone to check the quality of his solar panels and inverter.
Grobler thought the whole thing was suspicious and phoned Mogale City Local Municipality to confirm with them. He was then informed they were not aware of any such actions needed to be taken.
The News decided to phone the number given to Grobler to find out what was going on. A person named Andre answered saying it was the ‘municipality head office’. When asked what municipality, the person said it was the Randburg municipality. Randburg does not have their own municipality and falls under the City of Joburg municipality.
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https://www.citizen.co.za/krugersdorp-news/311283/scammed-out-of-r200-000/
When asked why the Randburg municipality was involved in Mogale City matters, Andre said their municipality is busy auditing Mogale City and that the money for the metre needed to be paid to them and then Mogale City will come and install the metre. A contradiction to Andre’s earlier statement that a Kyle or Ellis will come and install the metre.
When asked why Grobler needed a prepaid metre when he is installing solar panels, Andre said that it was merely as a back-up.
Andre told the News that municipalities are now trying to get everyone on a prepaid metre and that it had been in the news and newspapers. The News is not aware of any such action.
The News reached out to the Mogale’s communications department to confirm whether this is true, and received feedback that they are not aware of any auditing or prepaid metres being installed. They also confirmed that they would not ask for a money transfer and would rather ask residents to pay any funds owed to them at their municipal offices itself.
The News have also confirmed with City of Joburg that this is indeed a scam. Grobler and the News want to warn residents to be vigilant if they receive a call in this regard and rather speak to the municipality directly to confirm.
* Grobler is a pseudonym.
