Watch OUT CON ED - NATIONAL GRID- skam - scheme

supreme_ian

OK .. so im sitting here in my house (apt) and 2 ppl knock on my door & claim to work for con ed & they begin to tell me "oh youve been over charged blah blah blah" so then the dude is like can we SEE your bill. so im like NO you cant. then he proceeds to tell me that in order for them to help me they need to look @ 1 of my old bills to get some info on my over charging. and all this other bullshit..anyway this is a scheme / skam / hustle / complete BULLSHIT and these fools are tryin to RIP U OFF

so beware... its a lightskin blk dude with beard and braids bout 6 -1 and a small blk woman drker skin color short hair.

whynot_31

this something that the police should be told about... likely via 911.

hitokiri

Good call man.
Con-ed/Nat Grid will never ask for your bill, let alone make house calls to see it.

I cant even get them to come within a 24hr period to turn my gas on let alone have them make a house call to look at my bill for an overcharge.

whatchuwant

What were they looking for exactly, Ian? They would look at your bill, tell you you were overcharged and then at that point you could be like, "well, pony up, mofos! Gimme some cash!"

turtle95

There have been a few posts on this before. In this link is a link to the article in the Consumerist about one of the companies that works this hustle

http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=405004&highlight=&sid=4fb43c28cdd1aedaf7911413b09c6ba9

supreme_ian

well it was funny, because the convo started like this " hello sir, we are here on behalf of con-ed and we see that you didnt call the 800 # on your bill" ahaha thats when i knew it was all bullshit. but they want the "correct billing info" on your stuff so then can swindle my identy away and fuck my life up even more with debt ahahahah little do they know the joke woulda been on them if they stole my id ahah ..

but really they looked and sounded like some old school con team from the 80's i cant believe that ppl still give into that kinda stuff in this day & age of everything being on the damn internet..

ahahah at i keep rambling
whatchu they wanted to SEE my OLD bills and show me where i was ripped off thats the jist of it !

orange fish

There have been some folks who've been robbed by some guys claiming to be from Con Ed

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9403E7DF163DF932A05754C0A961958260

doctorj

Sounds like a scammy door-to-door ESCO.

superman

Saw the same 2 jerks early this week in my building. Told them that they had 1 minute before I called the cops. They left the building immediately.

If you're a legit Con Ed rep.

Why run?

Con-Men A-holes!

brooklynleather

Yeah I had that weird Esco scam happened to me a few months back

yesnomaybe

Two of these people came to my door yesterday, and another one the day before that. I'm just amazed at how ballsy they've gotten, flat-out claiming that they work for ConEd and need to readjust your over-charged bill... yet they have no ConEd ID and no info on your account.

Apparently this ESCO works their sales commissions like an MLM / pyramid scheme, which is why they're so in-your-face... call the cops and file a complaint w/ the attorney general.

arches

Brownstoner's got a bit on this too:
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2008/10/energy_scammers.php

doctorj

They actually got Mrs DrJ when they came by when I was out one day, after scamming their way past our doorman. Unfortunately, her scam filters are way down, due to living most of her life in a country where consumer protections are extremely strong and scams of any kind virtually unheard of. Even though she's not on the account, not authorized to make the switch, and told them she had to wait to ask me, they went ahead anyway, bastards, because she showed them the bill. The good news is, a phonecall to their office the next day fixed it.

supreme_ian

aw damn thats wild they got your wife.. grrrrrr.. thats good that just a phonecall fixed whatever ... wait was it the same couple. the blk man and woman?

supreme_ian

aw damn thats wild they got your wife.. grrrrrr.. thats good that just a phonecall fixed whatever ... wait was it the same couple. the blk man and woman?

lostingreenwoodhts

Posts on brownstoner and gowanuslounge today on this very topic.

The Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights are attempting to round up experiences from folks all over the borough. If you care to share your story, they are asking to send along an e-mail to info (at) ccgreenwoodhts.com

These dudes came through our area as well! :evil:

lo kee

I live on E parkway and a male and a female rang my bell about two weeks ago on a saturday.

The guy had a lanyard ID cardy thing that I didn't get a good look at because I just peeked through the peep hole and when i saw it wasn't anyone I recognized, did not open the door.

If I'm not expecting someone, my door stays shut. F that.

homeowner

If they show up at your door tell them you work for Ambit Energy. Its another ESCO that has a multi-level marketing focus. They won't try and convert you then, and they'll know you're hip to their game.

lostingreenwoodhts

LOL!

FYI, global post based on all this B.S.

http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=46248

jarvis

yea, they came to my place too. i didn't let them in, but they seemed to be trying all the apartments in the (pretty big) bldg.

cb

I am embarrassed to say that they were in my building yesterday, late afternoon and I fell for the scam. They rang my bell and I thought since the doorman let them up, they must be legit. It seemed fishy to me but I kept thinking, "well the doorman let them up" and gave them my bill and all. It wasn't until I read the paperwork that I realized that my initial suspicions were valid and saw that I had signed up for IDT. I waited until 7:30 a.m. this morning, called the 800 number, gave the rep a mouthful and she canceled the account. She gave me a confirmation number. Still can't believe I was taken though but am glad that I got out of it.

ph_dreamin

They just hit our bldg, Park b/w Flatbush and Vandy (but I poked my head down the stairs and informed them I knew it was a scam... because I read it here first!). Watch out...

deedee

They are working Park Place tonight. Beware! They just tried to come to our door and we told them that we don't keep copies of our old Con Edison or National Grid bills. He sprinted out of here.

bricktop

I signed up for an ESCO years ago -- Smart Energy -- when they first introduced them, and I'm still paying the price. They somehow used a years-old address on my account and didn't bill me correctly for years, though I was still getting my 'delivery' bill from the main company, so I thought everything was fine. Then they figure it out and try to back bill me for thousands, and I refuse to pay on principle. Now it's on my credit report 3 times, once for each of the collection agencies they placed it with, and impacting my FICO score. I will NEVER use an ESCO again. They're all half-assed.

bifteck

They're at it again -- I'd never been targeted by them before, but they just rang my buzzer on South Portland. Watch out.

lp1378

Former Prospect Heights resident now living in Bed-Stuy here: These clowns were in my building yesterday and talked to one of my roommates who is very new to NYC. They hit at the worst possible time because that day she was actually waiting for Keyspan to handle a matter with our gas, and so it was that much more confusing. Fortunately she ended up finding one of the Con-Ed bills on my desk from my old place (which was in my former roommate's name) and showed them that instead of our new bills (I hate my old roommate's guts so I actually hope they snatched his info. The bastard!)

I came in today and they were here again so I called the cops. They came and talked to them, and I think they asked them to leave the building but that was about it. From what people are saying here there might be multiple operations going on, some more nefarious than others. These two (a man and woman) didn't seem dangerous, but still out to scam. Anyway, solicitation like this sucks. Thanks all of you for the tips.

prospectplacegirl

They came to my apartment building as well. They rang the buzzers to the point where someone in my building buzzed them in. They knocked repetedly on everyones doors...

The guy who came to my door was pretty young. About 16. What exactly are they getting??? Its a total scam, but what are they pulling from the bills (if you were to show them) that would be ripped off.

That's pretty bold and old school to knock on peoples doors!

lostingreenwoodhts

"but what are they pulling from the bills "

Your name, address and acct # in order to sign you up even if you do not sign their contracts.

STAY AWAY.

lp1378

lostingreenwoodhts wrote: "but what are they pulling from the bills "

Your name, address and acct # in order to sign you up even if you do not sign their contracts.

STAY AWAY.

Thanks for the info. I was wondering about that too.

By the way, I found the flier she got from them yesterday and this one says U.S. Energy Savings, part of Energy Savings Group. www.usesc.com

The website looks semi-legit so this one is probably a pyramid situation. Some of the google hits seem to discuss them as an overcharge ripoff.

I was wondering if I overreacted by calling the cops, but from reading your posts and looking this stuff up I'm feeling like it was the right thing to do.

lostingreenwoodhts

You did the right thing

phrez

Subject: save

ok so would switching to IDT save me any money?