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the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Twp. of Washington NJ, PSE&G will join Utilities United Against Scams (UUAS) to recognize the sixth annual Utility Scam Awareness Week, Nov 15-19. National Scam Awareness Week is an advocacy and awareness campaign focused on educating customers and exposing the tactics used by scammers.
The Ridgewood Police report that on November 10, 2021 at sixty-two-year-old (62) male reported that he may have fallen victim to a telephone scam. The victim reported that he was contacted by a male, via telephone, who falsely claimed that the victim was behind on a utility bill. The scammer provided the victim with instructions to pay the fake balance with a cryptocurrency. Ridgewood Police Detectives were contacted before any transactions took place and were able to prevent the theft from occurring. The matter is currently under investigation.
“The pandemic has created financial hardship and escalated stress levels for many of our customers, and that is a perfect environment for scammers to thrive,” said Deb Affonsa, PSE&G’s vice president Customer Care and chief customer officer. “Bad actors create the impression of an urgent problem in the hopes that our customers will panic, preventing our customers from seeing all the clues that they are indeed being scammed. I would like to reinforce, PSE&G is not currently shutting off residential customers for nonpayment. PSE&G wants to help all our customers who are behind on their energy bills with affordable payment agreements to help our customers get back on track, together.”
PSE&G reminds customers to be alert to scams – particularly scams demanding immediate bill payment via a prepaid credit card or digital money transfer, or offering a bill discount due to a good payment history.
What to look out for:
You receive a call from what looks like PSE&G on your caller ID.
The caller threatens to shut off your service and demands an immediate payment by cash, pre-paid card, or digital money transfer apps.
The caller informs you that you require a new meter and demands a deposit before the installation can occur (PSE&G does not require a deposit for a new meter installation).
You’re given a phone number to call back that, when called, may sound similar to PSE&G’s automated call system.
The caller alerts you that, because of your good bill-paying history, you’re eligible for a bill reduction or discount but you must provide information first.
PSE&G never requires payment with a prepaid card and does not offer bill discounts. As another reminder, PSE&G does not accept payment via prepaid gift cards, digital money transfer apps or cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin.
What PSE&G will and won’t discuss over the phone:
A genuine PSE&G representative will ask to speak to the account owner.
If that person is available, the representative will explain why they are calling and provide the account name, address and current balance.
If the account owner is not available, the PSE&G representative will not discuss the account at all and ask that a message be left for the Customer of Record to call 1-800-436-PSEG (7734).
For more information, visit pseg.com/scamalert.
“It’s perfectly acceptable for the customer to hang up the phone. The scammer’s initial goal is to pressure their targets and convince them that they work for the utility,” said UUAS Executive Director Monica Martinez. “Scammers are extremely sophisticated in their tactics, and, by simply ending the call, you can end their scam. If you are unsure, you can always call back the utility by dialing the number found on your bill or on their website, and they will provide you with the correct information.”
PSE&G is a member of the UUAS collaborative. UUAS, a consortium of more than 145 U.S. and Canadian electric, water, and natural gas utilities and their respective trade associations, has helped to create awareness of common and new scam tactics and to cease operations of nearly 5,000 toll-free numbers used against utility customers by scammers.
It doesn’t matter how much you publicize these scams, there is always somebody out of the loop or greedy who will fall for them.
I think people just assume it will never happen to them
Last week I got calls from the utility company, the IRS and about 30 car warranty scammers.
I tell them all to go f@@k themselves and stay in their own country and rob their own citizens.
Yelling at them and insulting them is an absolute waste of time. If it somehow makes you feel better, then go right ahead. Trust me, they are immune to it and are already selecting the next number to call.
Do what I do don’t answer the phone.let it go to voicemail