This November 14, 5 people were arrested for illegally opening several Linky meters in private homes. The operation has a specific objective: to install an electrical bypass in order to reduce the electricity bill. A practice that is growing in popularity as energy prices rise.
If Linky has somewhat revolutionized meter reading in our homes – to the great dismay of certain resistance fighters – the small box can still do nothing against good old fraud techniques. However, the latter was precisely designed, in particular, to fight against the various practices which could allow its owner to artificially reduce his bill. If, to date, the meter has not yet been hacked (at least officially), fraudsters can still count on a proven technique: diversion.
The principle is simple. In concrete terms, this involves reconnecting all or certain electrical appliances in your home upstream of the meter, so that the meter can no longer detect your consumption. Obviously illegal, in addition to being relatively difficult to implement, this practice is experiencing a resurgence in popularity in France today. This November 14, 5 people were arrested in Gard after offering their service to numerous individuals.
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Electric diversion is making a comeback with inflation
Aged 34 to 73, this small collective went to their customers’ homes to open their Linky meter and carry out the diversion. Once their operation was completed, he camouflaged the result by sealing the case with lead. This did not prevent Enedis from spotting an anomaly on individual statements. The accused now risk a fine of €45,000 as well as payment of damages. Their customers, for their part, may be forced to regularize their electricity bills.
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In reality, it is difficult to hide the derivations made on its meter from Enedis. In a note to his technicians, the network manager explains that there are two ways to detect fraud: “thanks to remote controls on the operation of the meter and the consistency of the data collected”or via the intervention of the supplier who “performs an analysis using the available information (consumption history, error register, etc.)”.
Source: Infoccitanie