MAYS LANDING — With New Jersey and the world experiencing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Atlantic City Electric is reminding customers to always be on alert for potential scams targeting energy customers.
Scams occur throughout the year, but the company has seen an increase in attempts with scammers using this health crisis to take advantage of energy customers throughout the United States.
The company has received reports that scammers are threatening to shut service off and are offering cash or credit incentives to obtain a customer’s personal or financial information.
“It is unfortunate that scammers are using the public’s concerns around health and financial uncertainty to deceive and further harm our customers,” said Derrick Dickens, senior vice president and chief customer officer for Pepco Holdings, parent company of Atlantic City Electric. “We want to provide our customers with tools and information that can help ward off would-be scammers and help put a stop to these ongoing scamming attempts.”
In some cases, scammers are duplicating the recorded message that customers hear when calling a legitimate company, so when customers call the number provided by the scammer, it sounds like an actual business. Some scammers also use caller ID “spoofing” to replicate an energy company’s phone number.
Throughout the year, Atlantic City Electric takes steps to raise awareness among its customers, including posting tips to social media, adding alerts on the atlanticcityelectric.com homepage, issuing news releases and participating annually in Utilities United Against Scams Day in March and November. Any customer who believes he or she has been the target of a scam is urged to contact their local police and call Atlantic City Electric immediately at (800) 642-3780 to report the situation.
Customers can avoid being scammed by taking a few precautions:
— Never provide your social security number or personal information to anyone initiating contact with you claiming to be a company representative or requesting you to send money to another person or entity other than Atlantic City Electric.
— Always ask to see a company photo ID before allowing any Atlantic City Electric worker into your home or business.
— Never make a payment for services to anyone coming to your door.
How to protect yourself
— Atlantic City Electric representatives will never ask or require a customer with a past-due balance to purchase a prepaid debit card to avoid disconnection.
— Customers can make payments online, by phone, automatic bank withdrawal or by mail.
— Customers with a past-due balance will receive multiple shutoff notifications — never a single notification one hour before disconnection.
— If a customer ever questions the legitimacy of a call, he or she should hang up and call Atlantic City Electric at (800) 642-3780.
