Atlantic City Electric Provides Tips to Help Ward Off Scammers

Atlantic City Electric is urging customers to be aware of a scam that has been targeting utility customers across the United States for more than five years. Customers in South Jersey have recently contacted the company to report they have been targeted with the popular “green dot” scam.

The scammers, who target both residential and business customers, call individuals claiming that they are behind on their account and must make an immediate payment to avoid service termination. As part of the scam, customers are asked to purchase a pre-paid debit card, such as a Green Dot MoneyPak, for a specific amount from local pharmacies, retail chains or convenience stores. The customer is then directed to contact a number to use the card to make a payment to their account. Once the information is provided to the scammer, the funds on the card are removed.

During the last five years, scammers have become increasingly sophisticated, going to extreme measures to present themselves as official utility representatives. Scammers have gone so far as to replicate utility phone numbers through caller ID, with some even replicating the messaging and prompts provided to customers through their interactive voice response system.

To help customers ward off these scammers, Atlantic City Electric offers the following tips:

  • If a customer receives a call from someone stating they are calling to collect a bill payment for Atlantic City Electric, the caller should be able to provide specific information including:
    • Account name
    • Account address
    • Account number
    • Amount of current balance

If the caller cannot provide this information, it is likely the call is not coming from Atlantic City Electric. In this case, customers should not provide any information, and call Atlantic City Electric immediately at 1-800-642-3780 to report the situation.

Customers should never provide their social security number or banking or credit card information by phone unless they have initiated the call.

Read the full news release here.

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