Business & Tech

NSTAR Warns of 'Power Shut Off' Scam

By Richard Hosford

NSTAR customers beware, the utility company has sent out a warning concerning a phone scam popular during the holiday season. 

According to a release, NSTAR is warning customers that scams targeting utility customers across the country continue to affect local residents and businesses. This holiday season scammers are once again falsely telling utility customers the company will shut off their power unless payment is made immediately. 

"While the scammers keep changing the scenario they use to scare customers into making hasty, often large payments to keep the power on, the scheme to get the money remains basically the same," a release states. 

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Normally a caller falsely tells the customer the only way to keep their power on is to pay quickly using an untraceable pre-paid debit card (such as the Green Dot card) or, in the case of business customers, by making a Western Union money transfer.

"If a customer gets a call of this nature, they can verify that it is NSTAR by asking for some basic information about their account. Our customer service representatives will always be able to provide the name on the account, the account address, and the exact past due balance," said Penni Conner, Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer at Northeast Utilities, NSTAR’s parent company. "If the caller cannot provide that information, the call is not from one of our employees.”

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According to the release, NSTAR representatives never demand instant payment over the phone and don’t require the use of pre-paid debit cards. 

Also NSTAR employees all carry photo IDs so the company advises customers to demand to see identification during any in-person visits. 

NSTAR urges anyone who has any doubts about a call or a visit to contact the company directly at 1-800-592-2000.


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