Scam Alert: Port Chester Woman Hangs Up on Utility Bill Con Man

A 62-year-old Port Chester woman was too smart for a con man and hung up on him when she was threatened with immediate shut off of her electric service, according to Port Chester Police.

The resident of Washington Mews told police that a man who identified himself as a member of Con Edison's disconnection department called her at about 10:24 a.m. Thursday to demand payment for an overdue bill. The woman disputed the billing information and rejected demands for immediate payment.

Police said that in addition to seeking money from the woman, the caller was attempting to obtain personal information about her. A phone number the that caller gave the woman for his department was bogus, police said.

Over the past year, several Port Chester residents have been victimized by callers who falsely claimed to be Con Ed representatives. In those cases, the caller threatened immediate shut off of electricity unless the resident made immediate payment by pre-paid cash card.

Con Ed warns its customers that it does not demand such payments or direct payments by wire. The company warns that if you get such a call, check with the utility at 1-800-75-CONED  (1-800-752-6633).

Here is advice from Con Ed:

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.