Tampered meters: Enedis denounces the explosion of fraud via Linky

Linky meters at the heart of electricity bill fraud. Over the past three years, Enedis says it has detected more than 100,000 tampered meters. This increasingly common and rapidly increasing phenomenon comes at a cost: several hundred million euros per year.

Online, tutorial videos explaining how to tamper with a box by modifying the wiring are flourishing. Offers from "specialists" who offer to come and do it directly at your home are also multiplying.

Because the result is immediate: a tampered Linky meter conceals approximately two-thirds of its energy consumption. Except that these meters are connected, Enedis can directly detect any work on the device and monitor it for weeks to come.

If a drop in consumption is observed, it will suspect fraud and intervene. In this case, the company is uncompromising, says a manager, it will obviously demand what it is owed and systematically file a complaint.

Faced with the scale of the phenomenon, Enedis plans to double the number of sworn agents to detect fraud: there will be 500 by next year.