Sullivan sheriff warns of utility scam

Posted 8/21/12

MONTICELLO, NY — Sullivan County Sheriff Mike Schiff says scam artists have been targeting customers of the Orange & Rockland Utilities (O&R) service area, calling customers to say their …

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Sullivan sheriff warns of utility scam

Posted

MONTICELLO, NY — Sullivan County Sheriff Mike Schiff says scam artists have been targeting customers of the Orange & Rockland Utilities (O&R) service area, calling customers to say their electricity is about to be shut off because the utility did not receive the most recent payment.

The scam artist tells the victim they can avoid having the power shut off by making an immediate payment using a Green Dot MoneyPak card, which is like a prepaid credit card, and can be purchased at various stores. The victim buys the card and provides the card number to the scammer, who then immediately removes the money from the card by way of an ATM.

Schiff says the scammer may not always be a live person. “In some instances, the victims have received an official sounding robo-call,” he said. In other cases the scammer has been fluent in both English and Spanish. “The scammer’s pitch is always high pressure,” said Schiff, “and the scammers love to target businesses on a Friday because an owner would believe that a potential disruption of electric service could last until Monday.”

Schiff says that county detectives are in the process of tracing the 800 number used by the crooks. “They are very brazen. Even after months of running this scam, the phone number is still active. When Detective Cyrus Barnes called the number on November 14, a male answered the phone and offered to help him with his payment,” he said. His office is working with O&R Utilities, the New York State Attorney General and troopers from the Wurtsboro barracks on this case.

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