Gas & electricity rip-off: That’s why you should never give the meter number over the phone

The energy market is currently in flux, as many customers are looking for the cheapest tariffs. Intrusive providers take advantage of this and call customers out of nowhere. If you’re not careful, you’ll suddenly end up with an expensive contract. We know these phone numbers.

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Wherever there are crises, free riders are not far away. From annoying representatives to real-life scammers, everything is there. This can also be felt in the currently chaotic market for electricity and gas prices.

The tellows company, which specializes in blocking spam calls, found this out in the course of a detailed analysis. While reputable energy suppliers inform their customers about new prices and contract changes, rip-offs get mixed up in order to rip off insecure users.

Results of the study

The study clearly shows that 98 percent of citizens perceive such spam calls as unwanted. Most of the telephone numbers examined were also classified as rip-offs – only around 1.5 percent were considered serious. Three types of calls have emerged:

Cold calling for changing electricity provider
Provider of alternatives to gas heating
Calls from reputable providers to adjust contracts

The first two of these are unwanted calls. Here we show you the most important spam phone numbers that users have reported.

CHIP – Saving electricity made easy – PDF

Energy has never been as expensive as it is now. But instead of panicking, you should calmly check potential savings at home. As our guide shows, there are many of them.

These are the current spam phone numbers

The tellows service evaluates phone numbers using a complex algorithm. The only important thing for you is: If the value is higher than 7, then it is spam or fraud.

So if your phone keeps ringing, be careful with the phone numbers below. These all have a score of 8:

There is an even more extensive list of phone numbers at tellows in the summary of the study.

Do not give a meter number

The aim of the callers is to access your personal data as casually as possible by pretending to be an official energy supplier. Also includes:

Surname
Address
Gas or electricity meter number

This is often enough for the scammers to end an existing contract and initiate a change of provider. Therefore, you should never give them away.

Such a quick change is possible because the exchange of data between energy providers has been made easier for the consumers. It’s actually a good thing, but it’s being shamelessly exploited here. If you fall for it, you can slip into more expensive tariffs.