Peco customers target of scammers

PECO ENERGY officials want their customers to be aware of imposters who are calling homes and threatening to shut off service.

The utility company received five reports last month from customers in Chester and Bucks counties who fell for the scam, said company spokesman Ben Armstrong. Several other customers who were not victimized by the con called the company to complain of the attempts.

Armstrong said that Peco was cooperating with authorities in Bensalem, and in New Garden and Avondale, Chester County, and that at least one other utility company had reported similar cases.

The scammers call the customers, say they are Peco reps and inform them that their service is in jeopardy because they owe $200 to $400. The scammers tell customers that they can avoid a service cutoff by going to a Walgreen's or a CVS to purchase a Green Dot Visa Debit card, which is essentially as good as cash.

Customers then are asked to relay the digits from the card to a phone number with a 718 area code provided by the scammer to settle the customers' account.

Peco said customers can ferret out a scammer by asking information any legitimate rep would know, such as the customer's account number and the history of the account.