Ontario Energy Board warns of scammers impersonating its employees
Door-to-door sales have been banned in Ontario since March 2018, but that’s not stopping aggressive sales staff from pitching expensive long-term rental contracts for items like furnaces and air conditioners.
The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) says these scammers are now impersonating its employees.
“We know there are some bad actors out there who are using our logos to either impersonate us or try to lend credibility to their scams," Harneet Panesar, Chief Operating Officer with OEB, told CTV News Toronto.
According to Panesar, scammers are pretending to be with the OEB and are offering free government rebates that don't exist.
The pitch could either come as a phone call or a knock on the door from someone claiming you're eligible for rebates.
The OEB does not go door-to-door and does not offer rebates. Once inside, the scammer will try to get the homeowner to sign long-term rental agreements for furnaces, air conditioners, air filtration systems, water heaters, water filters, water softeners, or insulation.
"If someone knocks on your door asking for a home visit or inspection, just say no, and we know in some of these interactions they can get quite aggressive. So, if that happens, call the police," Panesar said.
OEB said scammers are also sending text messages with links promising funds, making threats of disconnecting power and seeking a large payment.
Scammers are also impersonating utility companies. Alectra Utilities tells CTV News Toronto some of its customers have lost money to the disconnection scam.
"Scammers will call our customers pretending to be us and threaten immediate disconnection of power. Alectra Utilities does not do this. We don't disconnect same day and we will always give you enough time to call us directly to try and work things out,” Ashley Trachef of Alectra Utilities said.
If you get a call from anyone claiming to be with a utility company, hang up and call your provider directly at its customer service number.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.