People were duped into sending a partial or full payment to a third-party agent via a wire transfer payment service and to fax their paymentreceipt to the seller as proof of payment.
Uswitch calculated figures for the BBC showing the difference between the average standard plans (payment on receipt) and the average online price among suppliers in the UK for dual-fuel gas and electricity bills.
One piece of good news was the announcement of an additional 40 euros payment to households in receipt of the winter fuel allowance because of the recent harsh weather.
In the eyes of the central bank, any meddling with maturity or anything less than the receipt of full-payment at maturity would potentially constitute a credit event putting the nation at default.
The condition was that this receipt be scribbled on a piece of paper and not a printed receipt from his meter, which would result in the payment being registered.