Building a modern - safe - reliable electricity bill collection ecosystem

Delegates attending the workshop

Common forms of impersonation

As of April 2025, Ben Tre Electricity Company manages and supplies electricity to more than 494 thousand customers across the province. Customers are evenly distributed in urban and rural areas; of which, customers using electricity for domestic purposes account for the largest proportion (95%), followed by non-domestic customers (5%). The Company has been diversifying electricity bill collection channels to facilitate customers such as: Payment via bank channels, payment via intermediary payment channels, periodic automatic payments.

Representative of the police leadership spoke

Recently, Ben Tre Electricity Company has received many complaints from customers about being called or texted by people impersonating Electricity employees. Common forms of impersonation include: Subjects using strange phone numbers (even fake numbers similar to customer service hotlines) to call customers, informing them that they owe electricity bills and requesting immediate payment. Otherwise, the electricity will be cut off or legal action will be taken. Sending messages with content similar to messages from EVN, with strange links for customers to "view bills" or "pay urgently", which are actually fake websites to steal personal information and bank accounts. Currently, Ben Tre Electricity Company has not received any reports of impersonation coming to customers' homes, but electricity customers should also be more vigilant, because Ben Tre Electricity Company has stopped implementing the form of collecting electricity bills at customers' homes.

The practice of impersonating employees of the Electricity industry to defraud customers causes confusion and affects customers' psychology. Especially customers who are elderly, living alone, or living in rural areas with little access to technology. It reduces the reputation of the Electricity industry, causing customers to lose confidence in the official customer care system of the Southern Power Corporation. It causes direct financial losses to customers if they follow the steps as instructed by the scammers.

Preventive solutions

At the workshop, a household presented the case of a person impersonating an employee of the Electricity sector who appropriated more than 2 billion VND. The banking sector outlined regulations related to information security for customers. The bank continues to coordinate to build a safe and convenient ecosystem for people. A representative of the Provincial Police Department's Cyber ​​Security Department presented the current situation and methods of impersonating employees of the Electricity sector in the locality, and recommendations to send to electricity customers in protecting personal information. The Provincial Police Department's Criminal Police Department stated the seriousness of impersonating subjects to appropriate property and sanctions...

Viettel Ben Tre's Deputy Director of Personal Customers, Tran Van Ket, proposed a solution to protect customer information in the electricity industry, aiming to build a modern - safe - reliable collection ecosystem: Deploying a brand identification call system. When Viettel or the electricity industry calls a customer, the unit name will be displayed instead of a strange number, helping people feel secure and clearly identify. Developing a collection staff code lookup system. Just by entering the phone number or ID code, people will immediately know whether the staff they are contacting is in the legal system or not. Warning of fake calls and fraudulent behavior through Viettel's platforms such as App MyViettel, Zalo OA, SMS Brandname and at transaction points. Standardizing the entire collection process of agents: no photocopies of identification documents, no hand-holding of customer information, transactions must go through an encrypted application.
Propose that the electricity industry and Viettel coordinate to deploy a pilot model of information security authentication in a district, as a basis for replication throughout the province.

Signing agreement to ensure the security of customer information using electricity

Ben Tre Electricity Company has Implement preventive measures such as: The Company proactively coordinates with the police and local authorities in investigating, handling (if any), preventing and combating fraud. Promote communication to electricity customers through many channels: Zalo, Facebook, leaflets, local loudspeakers, coordinate with Associations and organizations to organize direct propaganda sessions...

Electricity customers are advised not to provide personal information, OTP codes, bank accounts via phone calls or links of unknown origin. Do not trust calls or messages threatening to cut off electricity, need to verify through the official customer care hotline: 1900 1006 or 1900 9000. Only pay electricity bills through official channels of EVN or verified partners. When in doubt, customers should immediately report to the police or contact the Electricity Company for verification.

Electricity bill collection partners strengthen close coordination in communication work, warning customers about fraud. Build a clear employee (agent) identity authentication mechanism in the system and application for electricity bill collection. Update payment data quickly and accurately to minimize false notifications about debt status. Support integration of clear invoice information, avoid creating conditions for scammers to take advantage. Monitor agents during the cooperation process of electricity bill collection, ensuring compliance with the agreed contents in the electricity bill collection cooperation contract signed with Ben Tre Electricity Company: Must confirm successful electricity bill payment when transacting with electricity customers (SMS messages, receipts, receipts, etc. must clearly show information of the collection unit).

Deputy Director of Ben Tre Electricity Company Nguyen Manh Tuan recorded comments at the workshop

Deputy Director of Ben Tre Electricity Company Nguyen Manh Tuan said that the workshop is not only an opportunity to review the current situation and challenges in information security and prevention of sophisticated fraud, but also a forum for all parties to listen, share and propose practical and synchronous solutions to further improve the reliability, transparency and safety of electricity supply services, especially in electricity bill collection. Very sincere and profound sharing from our partners in collecting electricity bills - the units that have been, are and will continue to accompany Ben Tre Electricity Company, bringing customers closer to using electricity conveniently and safely. Ben Tre Power Company acknowledges the practical analysis and responsible warnings from the Provincial Police. This is a valuable source of information to help Ben Tre Power Company and its partners be more proactive in propaganda, prevention and protection of electricity customers from increasingly sophisticated impersonation and fraud tricks.

Article and photos: Tran Quoc

 

 

 

 

 

Source: https://baodongkhoi.vn/xay-dung-he-sinh-thai-thu-ho-tien-dien-hien-dai-an-toan-tin-cay-15042025-a145207.html