The "save money on your energy bill" scam artists are back; now they're pretending to be from the city instead of PSEG

Submitted by mikevago t3_11abp4l in jerseycity

Title pretty much says it all. A woman came to my door claiming to be from the city, making sure I'm receiving some kind of credit on my PSEG bill, although her clipboard said Arcadia. It's such a transparent scam, but I could hear more doorbells ringing down the street, so they must have a whole fleet of scam artists pushing this one.

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Vegetable_River t1_j9rhfam wrote

I have also seen this scam more than once. They came to my door about 2 - 3 months ago - at night @ 8 pm or so! Claiming to be from the city! Pffft! Get the hell away from my door. No badge, no ID and so late a night....I could also hear them ringing other bells and spewing the same claptrap. Trash peddlers.

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needfulsalsa t1_j9su756 wrote

Mpower does this. The agent claimed it was government mandated. Liar company

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voyboy_crying t1_j9s3iz5 wrote

What is the scam?

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ohnjaynb t1_j9s9rxg wrote

Your account number is the only thing a company needs to switch you to an alternate energy provider. All you need to do is show them a copy of your bill (or tell them the number over the phone) and they will switch you against your will. At that point your supply charges (which pays for poles and power lines into your house) still goes to PSE&G but rather than choose the cheapest available power generator, you now buy your power from whatever company you switch to.

People sometimes do this because they want their power bill to go toward some kind of environmentally friendly company but rarely will switching ever save you money. If someone cold calls or approaches you, it's a scam.

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mikevago OP t1_j9s9ljz wrote

They try and get you to sign up with an energy company that purports to be much cheaper than PSEG. And they are... for the first month or two, and then the rates jump up, but you're locked into a contract and are stuck paying more.

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imaluckyduckie t1_j9u86ja wrote

The real scam is Arcadia purports to be a generator of clean energy. In reality, they are purchasing Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) on your behalf - basically paying actual clean energy generators to generate the electricity they would have produced anyway.

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Puzzlekitt t1_j9vm0ql wrote

In addition to what was said below- they are dishonest from the start. Instead of introducing themselves as an Arcadia employee and that they’re selling solar energy, they start off by asking to see your PSEG bill with this laminated paper that says PSEG on it- so they try to come off as if they are PSEG. And then they give you a completely made up a reason for wanting to see your actual bill. Their approach is dishonest and makes zero mention of who they are and what they sell. It should be illegal for them to switch a customer’s energy source provider without permission. The only way PSEG combats it is by sending you a notice that the energy was switched and you can switch it back.

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needfulsalsa t1_ja3mkz2 wrote

An woman just came asking to be let in claiming to be from “Electric and gas”. Thank you for the post and warning the rest.

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bundemout t1_ja68jpw wrote

I get the door to door solor energy scammers. I tell them to come back next week at a specific time that I wont be there.

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