New National Grid Scam Calls Targeting Central New York Customers
There's a scam going around targeting National Grid customers, this time attempting to wrongfully switch your service.
National Grid customers have been the target of several scams in recent months, including calls where someone says a customer's power is about to be shut off, and attempts to get the victim of the scam to provide payment information over the phone.
This time, it's more than just payment scammers are trying to gain access to, it's the whole account.
A New Hartford mom describes her experience:
"BE AWARE that National Grid customers are being called by a 3rd party service stating they’re looking into you charges or service activity. The phone number that I received (a call from) was 315-666-1200. They’ll instruct you to call back with your statement. As soon as you give them an account number, they call in and switch your service."
Fortunately, this mom was savvy enough to realize it was a scam.
National Grid says "customers should verify they are speaking with a National Grid representative. One way to do this is to have available the last five digits of their National Grid account number and ask the caller to provide those numbers. If the caller can’t provide the information, if you doubt the caller is a National Grid representative, or if have any questions about your balance, hang up immediately and call our customer contact center at 1-800-642-4272."
National Grid does contact customers with past-due balances and will offer to accept payment over the phone. They offer the following tips to avoid getting scammed:
National Grid urges customers to be cautious when speaking with callers and offers helpful tips on how to protect yourself from these scams:
- National Grid will know your account number. Never offer account information to a caller
- Ask the caller to provide the last five digits of your National Grid account number. If the caller doesn’t know your account number and fishes for help, take charge and hang up immediately
- National Grid may ask for a payment over the phone, but will leave the method of payment to the customer
- National Grid will not contact you demanding immediate payment by wire transfer, or any other pre-paid card service
- Never -- under any circumstances -- should you ever offer personal or financial information to someone who you cannot identify
- Be suspicious of callers who you cannot identify. Hang up and call them back if you are uncertain