Actually this was the only time I got through to PSE&G right away. 911 had me call the JC non emergency number. The police showed up at my door about 25 minutes later.

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I wish it was the other way around, the police answer the phone quicker and could send a squad car over as well.

I called PSE&G while the woman waited at the front door. Then I called the police.

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Thank you for the proper description much better than the JJ newspaper. By the way did you call the police before or after you called PSE&G ?

I just had someone at my door claiming to be a 3rd party gas provider for PSEG. She said that I am behind on my bill and she was here to settle up with me. I didn't open my door. I knew it was a scam, but i called PSEG regardless to confirm. I could see out the window she was going from one house to the next.

Tall Black Woman with thick dreds to her mid back, blue jacket. Call the police if she stops by!!

More than 150 Spanish-speaking customers of Public Service Electric & Gas Co. have been targeted in a billing scam, according to PSE&G spokeswoman Bonnie Sheppard.

The scammers have trolled neighborhoods in Essex, Hudson and Middlesex counties, she said, knocking on doors or making phone calls to persuade PSE&G customers to settle an outstanding balance on their bill by buying a prepaid MoneyPak debit card.

"Some of the customers who?ve called us were victimized by the scam and paid money to these people," Sheppard said, "and some of them called us to say, ?Is this real? I?ve heard from these people. Is this you??"

When the alleged scammers have been successful, Sheppard said, they?ve taken between $100 and $200 and contacted the same customer asking for another payment in exchange for discounts on future bills.

Frauds targeting the Spanish-speaking community aren?t unusual, said Mario Vargas, executive director of the Puerto Rican Action Board in New Brunswick. The organization, which has satellite offices in Carteret and Perth Amboy, helps people apply for admission to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP. Vargas said he?s not surprised to see people impersonating utility workers in winter.

"This is the time of year when people want to make sure they?re current with payments on their gas bill," he said. "It?s cold outside."

As of yesterday afternoon, at least five of the action board?s clients had visited its Perth Amboy satellite office saying that people impersonating PSE&G workers had paid them a visit.

The Perth Amboy office has been fielding questions about suspicious overdue bill claims since the beginning of the year.

La Casa de Don Pedro, a human services nonprofit with offices and facilities throughout Newark, has also been doing its part to educate clients about the fraud, said Norma Sessa, director of the community invovlement division which helps LIHEAP program participants.

"We are just educating our clients as they walk through our door," she said.

PSE&G got its first call about the suspicious calls six weeks ago, Sheppard said, but the problem became noticeably more widespred in the last two weeks.

The problem isn?t limited to PSE&G customers or even New Jersey.

The American Gas Association, a trade organization that represents 200 energy companies nationally, said Peco utility customers in Philadelphia and Pepco customers in D.C. and Maryland have encountered an identical fraud.

"On AGA?s part, we?ve shared this information with all our members," said spokeswoman Lydia Meigs. "We don?t track trends regarding this, but it?s safe to say that people are more vulnerable during the cold winter season."

In New Jersey, no complaints about the Green Dot scam have been filed with the Division of Consumer Affairs said spokesman Jeff Lamm.

Scam artists trying to collect fictional debts isn?t very original, he said, but using prepaid debit cards is a new twist on an old trick.

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