Powerco responds to compromised Facebook account

Powerco is working to retrieve the company’s Facebook social media account after the account was compromised.  

Jason Franklin, Powerco Chief Executive, said the organisation’s original Facebook page (facebook.com/nzpowerco), which had 19,000-plus followers, was currently offline but being used to spam Powerco Facebook followers with content unrelated to Powerco.

“Cyber-attacks on essential services are not new – they’re a growing worldwide issue, and we’ve planned and trained for them.  

“It’s important to know that it’s business as usual at Powerco – ensuring electricity and gas are supplied to the communities in which we operate. 

“Our website is unaffected, and our customers and communities can continue to view information on the website, including our power outage map, planned outages and reporting outages,” Jason Franklin said.  

To be safe, however, people should be wary of any unsolicited emails or social media messages claiming to be from Powerco.  

“Please don’t click on any links in emails claiming to be from Powerco at this point,” he said.  

How our Facebook followers can help 

If you are a Powerco Facebook follower and you notice suspicious activity involving Powerco on your account, please report it by selecting options that relate to 'fraud or scam or impersonation'. 

New Powerco Facebook account: So that customers and communities know where to go to find Powerco on Facebook, the company has set up a new Facebook account: facebook.com/powerconz, and can trust it is legitimate.  

Powerco’s website address is: powerco.co.nz