Uptick in Scams Against Utility Customers In The Hudson Valley

PEARL RIVER, NY — Scammers are turning out to be this holiday season’s Grinch for utilities customers, company officials are warning. The company reports a significant increase in customers being targeted by impostors claiming to be from Consolidated Ed or Orange & Rockland and demanding immediate payment of a bill.

The scammers tell customers their power will be shut off if they do not make the payment.

Since Thanksgiving, at least 25 of Con Ed's commercial customers have reported giving money to scammers. In total, they have lost about $30,000.

“The scammers are calculating and cunning,” said James Duggan, a section manager in Con Edison’s Corporate Security department. “They know the holidays are a time when our commercial customers can least afford to have their power shut off and lose business. We want our customers to know they should be absolutely sure they’re talking to a Con Edison representative before agreeing to make a payment.”

Customers approached by someone claiming to be from your utility company — should ask to see a company ID.

Scam callers fraudulently claiming to be from the utility company often tell a customer that service is going to be shut off due to unpaid bills unless the customer purchases a pre-paid card or arranges for a transfer via MoneyGram to pay a bill.

These callers are not from Con Ed or any of its subsidiaries like O&R, which do not accept payments of electric or gas bills by pre-paid debit cards, or by MoneyGram or similar transfers

The scammers sometimes even tell the customer about a store near the customer's home that sells pre-paid cards. The scammer instructs the customer to pay cash by putting money on the card and to then provide the number on the card to the person who called.

Once the customer provides the scammer with the card number, the scammer steals the money.

With MoneyGram, scammers may ask a customer to provide money from a bank account, credit card or debit card by going online or to a specified location. The money goes into someone else’s bank account or is available for the receiver to pick up in cash.

Be alert if anyone asks you by telephone to arrange for pre-paid debit cards or a MoneyGram transfer as payment for your bill, or to send money to an out-of- state address. Never arrange payment or divulge account or personal information, including debit or credit card information, over the telephone, unless you are certain you are speaking to a real representative of your utility company.

Con Ed urges customers to never provide a Social Security number, credit card number or banking information to anyone requesting it unless you initiated the contact and know the identity of the person with whom you are speaking.

Anyone who feels they may have been a target of an impostor or a payment scam should report it to their local police department.

Another way to guard against scams, is if a stranger comes to your door claiming to be a utility company employee, demand they produce an identification card for your review before transacting any business with him or her, or permitting them into your home.

Moreover, when Con Ed makes a service appointment to visit a customer’s home, the company will provide the customer with a unique service order number. When the utility worker arrives at a customer’s home, the customer should ask the utility worker for his or her I.D. card and the service order number. The customer should confirm that the service order number matches the one provided, when the appointment was made, before admitting that worker into the home.

If the utility worker fails to provide the number for the appointment, the customer is to break off
contact, lock the door and call the police.

Image/ Lanning Taliaferro