Police In Philadelphia, Camden Advise Residents And Business Owners Of Reported Utility Phone Scam
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Police in Philadelphia and Camden are advising residents and business owners about a reported utility phone scam.
Camden County Police say since Tuesday, three small business owners in Camden have reported that they were called by a male suspect posing as a representative of PSE&G and allegedly told they had to immediately pay money they owed to fix an electrical problem or to avoid having their electricity shut off. The business owners were reportedly directed to load specific amounts of money onto Green Dot MoneyPak cards and then provide the card number to the suspect so the money could be withdrawn.
Police say one victim paid more than $4,200. These cases are under investigation by Camden County Police detectives.
Philadelphia Police are also advising property owners and business owners of the scam.
Police say an unknown scammer will call from a 1-800 number and tell the business/property owner that they are calling from PECO or some other utility company. The scammer will then identify themselves as a utility company employee and threaten to turn off the electric/utility to the property unless a payment is made within 30 minutes. Police say the owner is then instructed to go purchase six Green Dot Money Pak cards and load them with $500 each, or a large dollar amount. The owner is then required to contact the scammer and give them the PIN numbers to the Green Dot cards.
Philadelphia Police say the owners that are being targeted are usually delinquent on their PECO or other utility bills; therefore, they feel compelled to comply with the callers demands. Police advise the scammers will often call back and request more money. If you have received a call like this, police say immediately hang up and contact the utility company directly.
Philadelphia Police offer the following tips for avoiding a MoneyPak scam:
(1) Treat the money stored on your MoneyPak card the same way you would treat cash in your wallet.
(2) Never give your MoneyPak number to someone you don't know.
(3) Never give receipt information about your MoneyPak purchase to another party.
(4) Use your MoneyPak only to reload your prepaid cards or accounts you control.
(5) Refuse any request to buy a MoneyPak and share the number or receipt information by email or phone.
(6) To use your MoneyPak with PayPal, eBay, or other online merchants, transfer the money to your account before you pay the merchant. Don't email your MoneyPak number directly to any merchant.
Police remind residents Green Dot is not responsible for the quality or non-receipt of any goods or services you buy using your MoneyPak.
Any resident or business owner who has been the victim of a similar crime or who received a call like this is asked to immediately call the Camden County Police Department tip line at (856) 757-7042 or Philadelphia Police Major Crimes Unit- Special Investigations at (215) 686-3396/97.
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