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The company announced a significant increase in customers being targeted by impostors claiming to be from Orange & Rockland and demanding immediate payment of a bill. The scammers tell customers their power will be shut off if they do not make the payment, the company said.
Scam callers fraudulently claiming to be from Orange & Rockland often tell a customer that service is going to be shut off due to unpaid bills unless the customer purchases a pre-paid card or arranges for a transfer via MoneyGram to pay a bill the company said.
Orange & Rockland said it does not accept payments of electric or gas bills by pre-paid debit cards, or by MoneyGram or similar transfers.
Scammers sometimes even tell the customer about a store near the customer's home that sells pre-paid cards, the company said. The scammer instructs the customer to pay cash by putting money on the card and to then provide the number on the card to the person who called, the company said
Once the customer provides the scammer with the card number, the scammer steals the money, the company said.
With MoneyGram, scammers may ask a customer to provide money from a bank account, credit card or debit card by going online or to a specified location. The money goes into someone else’s bank account or is available for the receiver to pick up in cash, the company said.
Customers should be alert if anyone asks you by telephone to arrange for pre-paid debit cards or a MoneyGram transfer as payment for your bill or to send money to an out-of-state address. Customers should never arrange payment or divulge account or personal information, including debit or credit card information, over the telephone, unless you are certain you are speaking to an Orange & Rockland representative.
Orange & Rockland urges customers to never provide a Social Security number, credit card number or banking information to anyone requesting it unless you initiated the contact and know the identity of the person with whom you are speaking. Anyone who feels they may have been a target of an impostor or a payment scam should call the police.
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