Eskom scams rife in Salt Rock

When you get a call from Eskom offering you an opportunity to go off the grid and save money, you would probably say ‘yes please’.

Salt Rock resident, Gawie Venter got this call last week from “Andre”, who introduced himself as a Johannesburg municipal employee, who made Venter this irresistible offer.

“Andre knew all my details, as well as my electricity records, what I pay monthly and that I applied for a reduction in 2009, so he sounded believable,” said Venter.

“He said he would send out someone to do a survey and show us how we could get off the grid and save money on electricity with an energy storing battery.”

A little later a well-dressed man, Ricardo Blou, showed up at their home on foot. He said he was from a private company called Universal Technique, there to do the survey for Eskom.

“He wanted us to do a survey to find out where best the large battery should be installed,” said Venter.

Blou explained that the battery would cost R660 per month for four years, which sounded good to Venter, as his monthly electricity bill is much higher than that. But when Blou asked for a R2 000 registration fee, Venter started to get suspicious.

“I told him I wanted to see the product before I paid for anything and then he started getting nervous,” said Venter.

He asked Blou for “Andre’s” number, but he did not have it.

“He said we should look on the Eskom website for the rebate program under renewable energy, but we could not find it on the website.”

Blou proceeded to give Venter two contact numbers. One was answered by a man who makes burglar guard gates and the other was a lady who did not want to give them any information.

“I asked him if anyone else had bought the battery and he gave the name of a resident in Coral Place. But when we checked, the man said he had a generator and knew nothing about the battery.

“Suddenly Blou said he had to go and ran out the gate.”

A similar incident happened to another Salt Rock resident, an 88-year-old lady who asked to remain anonymous.

She received a call from a man who claimed to be calling from Eskom, who said they were offering pensioner rates and that he would like to see her.

A well dressed man arrived on foot and asked the lady to sign a form and provide him with her banking details, which she refused to do. When she went to get her hearing aid, the man stole her purse and ran away.

The Eskom media centre said that they are aware of these scams and that Eskom’s forensic department has been working with the South African Police Service to apprehend these criminals, and good progress has been made in this regard.

They advised that should you be offered a similar story, please contact the police or Eskom’s Andrew Etzinger at (011) 800-5316 or andrew.etzinger@eskom.co.za to ensure that the necessary investigation is conducted and appropriate action taken.