Among an uptick in phone scams this holiday season is a PSEG utility spoof in which a person pretending to be with the electric company threatens to shut off power to your house unless a payment is made immediately via gift cards or prepaid debit cards.
According to PSEG, there were 316 reports of scam calls last week alone, and many more calls actually go unreported. Oftentimes scammers will be calling from a phone number that mimics that of an actual PSEG telephone line.
Scammers "will do anything they can to make it look absolutely real," Robert Vessichelli, an asset protection specialist with PSEG, said in a phone interview on Wednesday. Some scammers even go door-to-door wearing a uniform that has a PSEG logo, he said.
"We don't accept prepaid debit cards as payment. We don't accept bitcoin, either," Mr. Vessichelli said. He advises people to call 800-490-0025, which is the number listed on the bottom of an actual PSEG bill, if they feel they have received a scam call, phishing attempt, or visit by a suspicious individual claiming to be doing utility work in their neighborhood. People should also know that PSEG isn't cutting power to customers in most cases right now because of hardships amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Report it to police immediately if you have suffered a loss," Mr. Vessichelli said. "Do not engage someone who comes to the door. Call our number and we can tell you if we have scheduled work in your area that day."
Since August of 2013, when PSEG first started receiving reports of scam phone calls, there have been 22,032 accounts of scams — though again, many more probably go unreported, Mr. Vessichelli said — and 1,138 people have fallen victim.
"People are kind of onto it," he said. "We identify call-back numbers and we try to shut them down -- we do whatever we can do to disrupt them."
