PROVIDENCE – Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin and National Grid PLC issued a warning Wednesday to Rhode Island businesses about small businesses being scammed by callers posing as representatives of National Grid.
The callers have been seeking payment on past-due balances and offering to lower the amount owed if the customer agrees to make an immediate payment. The caller has requested that the business owners pay with a pre-paid debit-like card.
The scammers have also set up a number – (855) 842-4526 – which mimics National Grid’s tag line.
“These outfits are becoming more elaborate in their scam and savvier in finding new and convincing ways to trick consumers and small business owners into thinking they are dealing with an actual National Grid representative,” said Kilmartin. “It’s important to report it to our office or National Grid if you receive one of these phone calls so we can alert other businesses and consumers before they fall victim.”
National Grid offers the following tips to consumers to help spot a scam call:
- Customers should always contact National Grid using the toll-free telephone numbers listed on the billing statement. If you are provided a phone number that does not match the numbers on the billing statement, it is likely the call is a scam.
- Be vigilant. If you believe you are current on your National Grid account, it is highly likely a call seeking payment is a scam.
- Verify you are speaking with a National Grid representative. One way to do this is to ask the representative to confirm the last five digits of your National Grid account number, which they should always have. If the caller doesn’t know your account number and you have any doubt the caller is a National Grid representative, or if they have any questions about account balance and fish 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 customers demanding immediate payment by wire transfer, Green Dot Money-Pak or any other pre-paid card service.
- Never – under any circumstances – offer personal or financial information to someone whom you cannot identify.
- Every National Grid employee carries a photo ID card, and any contractor doing work for the company is also required to carry ID. If someone requesting entry into your home or place of business does not show an ID card, don’t let that person in and please call National Grid or your local law enforcement.
To report the scam to the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit, please call (401) 274-4400 or email consumers@riag.ri.gov.
