HispanicBusiness

PSE&G is alerting its customers to a scam apparently targeting Hispanics in which individuals posing as PSE&G employees threaten to turn off electric and gas service if payment is not made to them that day.

The fraud, which has been reported across the country, involves payments using Green Dot MoneyPaks, prepaid debit cards. Last week JCP&L issued a similar warning to its customers about the scam.

A Spanish- or English-speaking individual pretending to be a PSE&G employee calls customers saying their service would be disconnected if they do not make a payment using a prepaid debit card. Customers are told to purchase a Green Dot MoneyPak at a pharmacy or convenience store, use cash to put money on the card, and then provide the number on the card to the caller.

Customers are advised that if they do not immediately call back and provide the MoneyPak information, their service will be turned off that day. Typically, after the customer provides that MoneyPak number, the scammer transfers the funds to a prepaid card and cashes it in at an ATM.