Eversource Energy scam hits New London coffee shop
Muddy Waters co-owner says fraudulent callers bilked him out of $1,800
New London— It was a busy Thursday morning when Barry Neistat, co-owner of Muddy Waters Cafe on Bank Street, got a call from a man purportedly from Eversource Energy threatening to shut off the restaurant’s power if he didn’t pay a pastdue bill within 45 minutes.
“It was 10 a.m., and Muddy Waters was full of people,” Neistat said. “I sort of panicked.”
But first Neistat questioned the man on the line, citing a bank statement that showed the last two bills had been paid.
The man, who identified himself as Kevin, eventually handed the call off to his “boss,” Eric, who calmly and professionally explained that he was from the shutoff department and that Neistat would have to pay the bill in full by going to Stop & Shop and using Reloadit cards to transfer money.
A credit card would not do.
If the power company had made a mistake, Neistat was told, his money would be refunded in full within 48 hours and he might even get up to three months of free electricity for his troubles.
Neistat bit, and it cost him a bundle: more than $1,800, including the $22 in fees to make the card payments.
He had just fallen for the socalled Eversource scam that is sweeping the state and was the subject of a story on Channel 30 just two days before.
“I’m 63 years old, and I’ve never been scammed in my life,” Neistat said during an interview at his restaurant a few hours after the incident.
“You just never think it’s going to happen to you,” said Susan Devlin Neistat, Barry Neistat’s wife and Muddy Waters co-owner.
Mitch Gross, a spokesman for Eversource, said this particular scam has been around for more than a year.
And what started out as a scenario designed to bilk $100 or $ 200 from unsuspecting merchants and individuals has escalated to a point where con artists can sometimes lure targets to give them many times more than that.
“Now, unfortunately, people are a little more brazen,” Gross said. “It’s a constant, not only in Connecticut but it’s an actual problem around the country.”
Neistat said he heard from Mike Buscetto, owner of Philomena’s Restaurant in Waterford and a former city councilor, that someone had tried a similar scam on him.
Buscetto thought it sounded real as well, Neistat reported, but foiled the plot only by insisting that an electric company representative appear in person to collect the money. No one showed up. Neistat initially got a message at his restaurant, then returned the call from (844) 422-1720 on his cellphone, and the person answered “Eversource,” directing his call to someone else.
When the payment was made, Neistat even got a confirmation number.
“It sounded very real,” Neistat said, shaking his head. “It’s unbelievable to me. People need to know.”
Neistat said he called the police department and filed a report once he realized it was a scam, but the officer directed him to talk to Eversource directly, and a representative there urged him to call the state Department of Consumer Protection.
John Neumon, chief of the department’s fraud division, said in an email that the Eversource scam is one of many that come and go depending on their effectiveness at any particular time.
“Scammers will threaten to send an IRS agent to arrest folks at any given time, but more often during tax season,” he said. “Electric and utility scams will crop up when weather is bad or temperatures spike or drop.”
Business scams sometime prey on the fact that larger industries often have separate payable and receivable departments, Neumon said.
The disconnect between the two departments sometimes allows scammers to get companies to pay for products or services that look legitimate but were never authorized.
“Elderly have a high rate of victimization, since they are home more often and tend to have more assets than younger individuals,” Neumon said. “Scammers will also use a variety of tactics, ranging from being overly friendly and learning about a victim to bullying and threatening.”
Gross, the Eversource spokesman, said the energy company always will send a shutoff notice weeks in advance of any sort of disconnection caused by lack of payment.
Eversource would never refuse a credit card payment, he added, nor would its representatives ask to meet at a convenience store for a payment, a tactic scammers have used in the past.
“We never demand immediate payment over the phone,” he said.
Neistat agreed there had been red flags, but in the heat of the moment— worried that a brisk lunch business would be jeopardized in the middle of the day— he fell for the scam.
Scammers, he was told, tend to call just before the lunch rush when restaurant owners are most rushed and worried about losing potential business.
What’s worse, after getting their money, the scammers called back about half a dozen times to taunt the Neistats about falling for the ruse, he said.
“What’s it feel like to be scammed?” Neistate said the man asked.
A man who identified himself as Mark Williams later called back from the same number purportedly to look into returning Neistat’s money, though Neistat figured he was only trying to get his bank account number to compound the scam, and the man eventually put him on hold forever.
Neistat said the incident left him sick.
“It takes everything out of you,” he said. “You know how much coffee we’re going to have to pour to make that up?”
“Scammers will threaten to send an IRS agent to arrest folks at any given time, but more often during tax season. Electric and utility scams will crop up when weather is bad or temperatures spike or drop.” JOHN NEUMON, CHIEF STATE DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER PROTECTION’S FRAUD DIVISION