Police are investigating a number of cases where £600 energy vouchers have been "illegally redeemed" in Northern Ireland.
In order to help with rising energy prices, households across Northern Ireland that use prepaid metres were sent £600 vouchers, with those on direct debits having their £600 paid directly into their accounts.
However, some of these vouchers have been taken by people they were not intended for and redeemed without the knowledge of the customer.
Read more: NI £600 energy payment: Final batch of vouchers now dispatched
Police have said they have received 43 reports of the vouchers being redeemed fraudulently.
Tony, a Power NI customer from South Belfast, said that he had been tracking the location of his voucher while he was on holiday to see when it would arrive, and was shocked to check the website and see that his voucher had already been redeemed without his knowledge.
He said: "I had been tracking the status of my voucher on the Power NI website in order to make sure that I knew when it would arrive, especially as I was not going to be home for a few days.
"While I was away I checked on the status of the voucher again and was shocked to see that it said that it had been redeemed, even though I was not in the country to be able to do so.
"I am not sure how someone has been able to do this, because you are supposed to provide correct identification when redeeming it and the person who has done so shouldn't have been able to say that the voucher was theirs.
"I have raised the issue with Power NI, who told me they were aware of dozens of other cases like that that had been reported to them."
Power NI have said that they have been working with the BEIS, Post Office and police where necessary regarding cases where people have not received their £600 payments. Some of these have been resolved and others are still under investigation.
Spokesperson for Power NI said: “NI electricity suppliers have been engaging with customers to make sure that those eligible for EBSS AFP NI do receive their £600 payment. In some cases, this has involved working with BEIS, the Post Office and if necessary, the PSNI. In a number of cases, these have been able to be resolved and others are still under investigation.
"Any customers with an issue regarding their £600 payment should contact their supplier to investigate on their behalf.”
A PSNI spokesperson said: "To date, we have received 43 reports relating to £600 energy payment vouchers being cashed out fraudulently. These reports are currently under investigation.
"A small number of vouchers have not yet been redeemed. We would remind the public that if they expected to receive the vouchers in the post but instead receive an email, text message or phone call about the vouchers, purporting to be from Post Office NI, it is a scam.
"If you think you’ve been targeted by a scammer and have lost your energy payment voucher, report it to your energy provider immediately. You can also call police on 101, or online at www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/."
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