Scammer Posing as National Grid Tries to Bilk Hingham Business

Someone pretending to be a National Grid manager called a small business in Hingham this week, failing in an attempt to collect on a fake overdue gas bill.

The caller contacted the unnamed business Wednesday at noon, trying to confuse those working during a busy time, Hingham police said in an alert.

The woman who called said that National Grid was going to shut off the businesses' gas service due to a non-payment issue. 

"The caller also said they were sending a crew out to swap out their old meter for a new one and because the business has not paid a deposit on the new meter, their service would be shut off," police said.

"The caller said that if the business purchased a 'Green Dot' card for $498.52 and read the numbers on that card to her, service would not be interrupted. 

"The Hingham business manager did not purchase a 'Green Dot' card and called National Grid directly and confirmed that their account was in good standing. They were also informed that it was scam attempt. She then called police to report the call.

"For those not aware, 'Green Dot' cards are legitimate pre-paid debit cards that can be purchased and loaded with cash. The cards have a unique card number assigned to them and also have a "PIN" (Personal Identification Number) that can be scratched off and used during phone or online purchases. Once you give out the number and PIN they money can be transferred to the scammer account within seconds). 

"We want to highlight two facts in this attempt; This is a small businesses, with just one or two employees working, who may not handle billing themselves and the time, around lunchtime, when it may be busy or one employee may be away at lunch. Both these factors could make this business more at risk at being taken in a scam such as this. 

"National Grid has sent out warnings about this scam as recently as 2012. Click the link below: 

http://www.nationalgridus.com/masselectric/a3-1_news2.asp?document=7194"