Kelowna businessman says he almost fell victim to phone scam – Kelowna News

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A Kelowna businessman is warning others about a near-miss he had with a phone scam.

James Elliott, owner of ABC Hobby, said he received a call from someone claiming to be a representative of FortisBC and that his company owed them a bill of more than $900.

“My staff called me and said the power is going to be shut off and you haven’t paid your electricity bill. Of course, I had paid the electricity bill,” Elliott said.

He called the 1-800 number that was left, and he said the recording sounded very professional, and he followed the phone prompts until he started talking to a real person.

“They said, oh yes, we sent you a letter saying we installed the smart meter a few weeks ago but we haven’t received payment yet.

“They were very aggressive. I was really nervous. I said, let me talk to your manager. They eventually handed me off to another guy who pushed me even harder, was very aggressive, very harsh, but still professional.”

Elliott said he kept asking to speak to a manager, but eventually they hung up on him.

“I told them it was a scam, and they ended up getting disappointed with me and hanging up on me. I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

according to FortisBC’s websitethis isn’t the first time a scam has occurred, and it likely won’t be the last.

“Scammers, con artists or companies using high-pressure tactics may sometimes contact you by pretending to be a FortisBC employee or representative,” FortisBC’s online post reads. “Whether it’s a suspicious phone call, text message, phishing email, social media post, or someone knocking on your door, we want you to be aware of the various types of scams or fraud and what you can do to protect yourself and your personal information.”