The following is an advisory issued by the Stone Harbor Police Department regarding an alleged telephone scam from individuals representing themselves as being from a utility company:
Thursday April 3, 2014
An unidentified male contacted a local business advising the store employee/owner that he was a representative of the “Electric Company”. The representative proceeded to tell the store owner that their electric bill was overdue and that if money was not deposited into a private account then the service would be shut off. The unidentified male provided the store owner/employee with a call back number of (848-207-9143). This number differed from the phone number where the subject placed the call from, which was (800-475-6116).
**Please note that similar type incidents have occurred in southern New Jersey where the caller identifies himself as “Mark Lopez” from the South Jersey Gas Company. This subject advises the “customer” of a similar overdue payment scenario and threatens that the gas service will be disconnected without payment.
Police urge store owners and residents that if they receive this type of call not to provide personal identifier or financial information to the caller. They should immediately contact their utility provider for verification, and notify the Police Department at 609-368-2111 of the incident.
