PSEG Long Island employees will never insist
and in most cases do not need to come inside
UNIONDALE, N.Y., Feb. 9, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- In light of a recent home invasion incident in
Nassau County involving robbers
dressed as utility workers, PSEG Long Island urges customers to
know what its employees look like and what they typically do when
making visits to a home.
"The safety of customers and employees is our top priority at
PSEG Long Island," said Lou Debrino,
vice president of Customer Operations for PSEG Long Island. "In
most cases, PSEG Long Island employees do not need to come inside
your home to perform their work. Most meters are located outside,
as is most of the electric equipment our company maintains. Our
employees always wear their PSEG Long Island ID cards. Never open
the door if you have any suspicion that the person knocking is not
a legitimate PSEG Long Island employee."
In-person visits
Occasionally, scammers may go door to
door impersonating PSEG Long Island employees, flashing a fake ID
and/or claiming to be a utility collection representative. The
impostors may wear "uniforms" or affix false company signs to their
vehicles. The scammers generally ask for personal information,
which real utility representatives do not do, or offer bogus
discounts.
PSEG Long Island employees must carry a company ID and present
it when requested. If customers have doubts, they should not open
the door. An actual PSEG Long Island employee will respect the
customer's decision and remain outside. If the person escalates
their efforts to enter the home, customers should consider calling
911.
Phone scammers
Scammers are still using phone calls to
target homes and businesses on Long
Island and in the Rockaways, impersonating PSEG Long Island
and area utilities and demanding immediate payment for supposed
unpaid bills. PSEG Long Island reminds customers do the right thing
if confronted with a demand for payment and a threat of imminent
shutoff: Get the truth from real PSEG Long Island representatives
at 1-800-490-0025.
Many of these scammers demand immediate payment via web-based
electronic payment services. PSEG Long Island does not accept
external, web-based electronic payment services (outside of
payments through My Account) as a method of payment.
What customers should know about payment scams
- Scammers impersonating PSEG Long Island most frequently
threaten to shut off power immediately unless payment is made.
- Many scammers use phone "spoofing" technology to make their
number display on your phone as "PSEG Long Island."
- PSEG Long Island will never request that customers use one
specific method of payment.
- Scammers typically want their victims to transfer money via a
web-based electronic payment service, a prepaid debit card, or even
Bitcoin, sometimes asking people to buy a prepaid card
at the nearest convenience store and then to read them the PIN over
the phone.
- PSEG Long Island does not accept web-based electronic payment
services, prepaid debit cards or Bitcoin as
payment.
- Sometimes phone scammers will demand a deposit for a priority
meter installation. PSEG Long Island does not require a deposit for
meter installations.
- If a customer has doubts about the legitimacy of a call or an
email — especially one in which payment is requested — they should
call the company directly at 1-800-490-0025.
Fake websites
Some scammers purchase web domains that
closely resemble the actual URL of a utility and create a
fraudulent replica of the legitimate website. Their plan is to dupe
users who click on these fake sites via search results, or type in
an inaccurate web address. Once on the spoofed site, a visitor is
presented a number of bill payment options, all pointing back to an
outside bill pay site.
PSEG Long Island always uses the ".com" domain. Its real
website, including PSEG Long Island-hosted online payment options,
can be found at psegliny.com.
Other scammers contact customers, claim to be with PSEG Long
Island, demand payment and then instruct their victims to pay by
scanning a QR code they send. Customers should remember that PSEG
Long Island will never request that customers use one specific
method of payment, and does not accept web-based electronic payment
services, prepaid debit cards or Bitcoin as
payment.
How actual PSEG Long Island reps handle phone
calls
Customers should also know what PSEG Long Island will
and won't discuss over the phone. A genuine PSEG Long Island
representative will ask to speak to the customer of record. If that
person is available, the representative will explain why they are
calling and provide the account name, address and current balance.
If the person on the phone does not provide the correct
information, it is likely the customer is not speaking with a PSEG
Long Island representative.
If the customer of record is not available, the PSEG Long Island
representative will not discuss the account and ask that a message
be left for the customer of record to call 1-800-490-0025.
PSEG Long Island is a member of the Utilities United Against
Scams (UUAS) collaborative. UUAS, a consortium of more than 150
U.S. and Canadian electric, water, and natural gas utilities and
their respective trade associations, continues to raise customer
awareness of common scams and new scam tactics used by utility
impostors. Through its work and with the help of customer
reporting, UUAS has successfully helped to take more than 14,020
toll-free numbers used by scammers against utility customers out of
operation.
For more information on various payment scams reported in the
PSEG Long Island service area and around the country, visit
psegliny.com/myaccount/customersupport/scamsandfraud.
PSEG Long Island
PSEG Long Island operates
the Long Island Power Authority's transmission and distribution
system under a long-term contract. PSEG Long Island is a
subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PSEG)
(NYSE:PEG), a publicly traded diversified energy company.
Visit PSEG Long Island
at:
psegliny.com
PSEG Long Island on
Facebook
PSEG Long Island on Instagram
PSEG
Long Island on X (formerly Twitter)
PSEG Long Island on
LinkedIn
PSEG Long Island on YouTube
PSEG Long
Island on Flickr
Contact: Media Relations Pager
516.229.7248
mediarelationsLI@pseg.com
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SOURCE PSEG Long Island