Port Chester Deli Hit By Utility Bill Scam

A Port Chester business has fallen victim to a continuing scam that has hit many local residents, losing more than $900 to a man who claimed to be a utility company representative, according to Port Chester Police.

The owner of a North Main Street deli told police that a noontime caller claimed to be from Con Edison and sought a $927 so a new service meter could be installed. The caller, who identified himself as Mr. Robinson, said the payment had to be made using a prepaid cash card.

Port Chester Police Lt. James Ladeairous warns that anyone claiming to be a utility representative who wants payment via such prepaid cards or wire transfers is a scam artist trying to steal your money or personal information. In this latest case, the deli owner made the payment to Mr. Robinson on March 4 and realized this week that she was the victim of a scam.

Ladeairous said the business owner contacted Con Edison for information because no one had come to install a new meter. The utility told the victim that the company had not contacted her and it had not received money from her.

Ladeairous said that anyone who gets a suspicious call from someone demanding money should contact Port Chester Police. Other scams to watch for that have hit Port Chester residents recently:

- A caller pretends to be a relative who is in jail and needs money to post bail or pay a fine. The caller often turns the phone over to someone pretending to be a police officer, who then says a cash wire transfer is needed to get the supposed relative out of jail.

- A caller or e-mail writer says you've won a big lottery prize - often from another country - and says all you have to do to claim the prize is send a cash wire transfer of a processing fee.

- A caller, e-mail or letter writer asks you to be a part of a customer service spot check program in which you are requested to transfer money via wire, usually to someone in another country. In this scam, the victim receives a check, is told to deposit the check in their own bank account and use some of the funds for the wire transfer. The victim is told to keep the difference, usually several hundred dollars, as a fee. After sending the money by wire, the victim finds out from their bank that the check they received is no good.

Here is advice from Con Ed on dealing with scams:

Con Edison 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 you are speaking with.

If you receive a call from someone you do not trust and who is urging you to make a payment to Con Edison, hang up and check the legitimacy of the call by dialing 1-800-75-CONED  (1-800-752-6633).

Con Edison's website, www.conEd.com offers a variety of approved and convenient options for bill payment.

In addition, Con Edison warns customers not to fall for a scam in which a caller says the customer must make a payment by purchasing a Green Dot Money Pak to avoid having utility service turned off.

These callers are not from Con Edison and Con Edison does not authorize payments of electric or gas bills by pre-paid debit cards such as the Green Dot Money Pak. While many retail stores accept the Green Dot Money Pak for payment, Con Edison does not.

The company has received reports from hundreds of customers who were contacted by the scammers. The scammer tells the customer the company will turn off service unless the customer makes a bill payment by purchasing a Green Dot pre-paid card.

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

Once the customer provides the Green Dot card number, the scammer steals the money on the card by transferring the money to a pre-paid card and cashing that card at an automated-teller machine.

Also, feel free to ask or check for identification before allowing anyone into your home or business. If you feel the person at your door may be an imposter, you can call 1-800-75CONED (1-800-752-6633) to check.

The utility also suggests that if you have a concern that you may have been targeted for fraud that you call your local police.

Here's another recent scam involving utility bills:

Here’s how it works: A scammer contacts a customer by phone, text message or other means and says President Obama is providing credits or applying payments to utility bills. The scammer asks the customer for their Social Security number and Con Edison account information.

The scammer then provides the customer with the number of an out-of-state bank account and the routing number and instructs the customer to use that information to make a bill payment to Con Edison.

But the bank account is phony and the customer receives a notification from Con Edison that the payment was not received. Though the customer has not lost money, the customer has given up valuable personal information that a scammer can use to steal from that customer.