Utilities constantly warn customers about scammers, whose tactics are increasingly challenging to detect. But in this story, a utility was duped. And it was no small chunk of change.
Canadian public utility Hydro-Québec paid someone impersonating one of its suppliers more than $450,000, according to sources who spoke to a newspaper in Montreal. Hydro-Québec confirmed to the La Presse that the utility had launched an investigation.
A spokesperson for Hydro-Québec told the newspaper that one of its suppliers was the victim of fraud on July 8, which resulted in the theft of confidential information. The scammer then changed the bank details used by the utility to pay bills.
The spokesperson said Hydro-Québec’s systems were not compromised, but added that they are reviewing internal procedures.
