Owners of businesses please be aware of this scam. Read the article below for you protection in the future. While one Little Falls business loses $1,500 to scam, other avoids hoa Monday, March 3, 2014 BY MATTHEW KADOSH STAFF WRITER Passaic Valley Today LITTLE FALLS - Two local businesses have been approached by a scammer claiming to be from a utility company, and while one lost $1,500 as a consequence, the other did not fall for the hoax, according to police. Detective Sgt. James Briggs said a man claiming to be from Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G) called the Park West Diner and Café on Route 46 Friday asking for payment with a pre-paid money card, and threatening disconnect the establishments electricity if it did not pay. A representative for the diner purchased the Vanilla Reload money card he asked for and gave him the information over the phone for three separate payments of $500, Briggs said. That same day, Briggs said, The Fine Grind - A Coffee Bar, on Newark Pompton Turnpike also received a call from someone identifying himself as a PSE&G representative and demanding a similar payment. However, the café did not fall for the scam, Briggs said. People should realize that Public Service is not going to call them and ask for a prepaid debit card and have them give them the number over the phone, he said. Rhonda Mallek, co-owner of The Fine Grind, investigated the call immediately on receiving notice from one of her employees that the caller said her utility service would be disconnected within 45 minutes if she didnt pay up. I was just so afraid that my service was going to be turned off on a Friday, my product would go bad in my refrigerator, and I would lose all my sales for the weekend, she said. I was furious, furious with PSE&G. So when I found out it was a scam, I was relieved. Mallek said that she checked to see if she had any past due payments after receiving the call, refusing to make the payment despite the fact that the man told her she would be refunded if the company had made a mistake. I felt very skeptical about that, she said. I wasnt about to pay that amount of money for their mistake, so I kept the guy on the phone, checked my records, and found out I had no past due balance. Briggs said he would urge anyone that gets such a call not to believe it and not to send any money to the representatives as asked. PSE&G spokeswoman Kristine Lloyd, said on Monday that they urge anyone persons who receive similar such call that they are suspicious about to hang up and call the number on their bill: 1-800-346-PSEG. The company has someone who investigates such incidents, she said. We encourage companies to contact their local police department and let us know, Lloyd said. Weve been working with law enforcement agencies and the attorney generals office. The problem has been ongoing. Weve been getting reports of calls like this since December 2012, she said. It kind of comes and goes. Most recently, Lloyd said, the scammers have been demanding payment via Green Dot prepaid debit cards, which are sold in pharmacies and convenience stores. Once you give that number to the scammer, they can lift that money and theres no way to trace it, Lloyd said. Theres no way to get it back. PSE&G has put out several news releases identifying the problem, Lloyd said, and is trying to educate customers about the problem, which has scammers changing their methods each time the company gets the word out about one type of scam. It seems no matter what you do, theres another scam around the corner, she said. I just did a press release on email scams last month. Email: kadosh@northjersey
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 00:10:15 +0000
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