WARNING: Water heater rental phone scam in Sudbury

telephone scam, grandparent scam

Sudbury water heater rental company @home Energy is warning customers of imposters after receiving several reports of a company making calls and claiming to be the provider.

The scam artists are calling residents in the Sudbury area, some who are customers and some who are not, and the caller ID is displaying a non-local number with an area code of 613.

People fraudulently claiming to be from the hot water rental provider are aggressively pressuring folks to schedule a home visit to inspect the appliance.  Sometimes they will give an appointment date and time, many of which are outside regular business hours and on the weekend.

The calls are attempts to gain access into your home.

If you have already scheduled an appointment, officials advise against answering the door, and if you receive a similar call, not to give out any information.

Officials say to report any phone calls of this nature to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-855-495-8501 or contact local police.

Please be advised that @home Energy does not make outbound calls to demand access to your water heater.  You can speak to an @home Energy representative by calling 705-675-0525.

Consumers are urged to discuss fraud prevention strategies with family and friends.