Winnipegger warns others about highly elaborate Manitoba Hydro missed payments scam
CBC
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.
Destiny Funk said people pretending to work for Manitoba Hydro attempted to lure her into making a deposit on a Bitcoin machine by using a lot of personal information and elaborate theatrics to make everything seem "very realistic."
On Monday afternoon, the 26-year-old received a call by someone claiming to be a Hydro technician, telling her they had a work order to cut her power within the hour due to unpaid bills.
Funk said the person had her name and address, and that it all seemed very legitimate.
"Money's been coming out of my account every single month," Funk told the man. "The — quote — 'technician' was like, … 'I'm just the tech.… You're going to want to contact them directly.'"
Funk said the man — who called from a 1-800 number — then gave her another number for Hydro, and even a work order serial to provide to an agent.
"The greeting message says, 'Welcome to Manitoba Hydro Business Centre. Please press 1 for this, please press 2 for billing,'" Funk said.
"I get connected within like 30 seconds after listening to hold music and everything."
Funk said she then got on the line with a man claiming to be a Hydro agent named John. John told her she was two months behind on payments, and asked her for transaction numbers to see if she had paid already.
When Funk offered to send him a screenshot instead, John told her he would have to open a ticket and follow up the next day. The man said there was nothing he could do to stop the work order.
"I'm not going a whole day without power," Funk told him. "He's like, 'Well, the only thing you can do in this situation then is pay the balance.'"
The woman said that at no point did John ask her to pay over the phone, which she said would have been an immediate red flag.
Instead, he told her to go to Hydro headquarters to solve the issue in person. When Funk said she couldn't, John suggested she go to an "authorized dealer."
The man listed some locations, including a nearby convenience store on Elizabeth Road. He told Funk there was a kiosk inside where she could pay, but that it only took cash.
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