New Hampshire

Small Business Tells of Power Restoration Scam in New Hampshire

The Bedford Veterinary Medical Center is telling the public to beware of power company scammers, after they received a call from someone posing as an Eversource employee threatening to shut off their power if they didn't pay up.

Scammers know when to hit small businesses, at times when they're most vulnerable. For instance, in the aftermath of this most recent Nor'Easter to hit New Hampshire.

Doctor Sudha Komma runs a private veterinary practice with locations in Bedford and Hudson.

"We need to do surgeries," said Dr. Komma. "We get emergencies, we need power.

Dr. Komma said on Thursday she had reason to believe her electricity was in jeopardy.

"I got a call saying that they're going to disconnect our electricity in the next 20 minutes," Dr. Komma said.

The person on the other end claimed to work for Eversource.

"I didn't even look into [if we] did we even pay the bill or not, I was looking at my 20 minute time frame," said Dr. Komma.

Immediately, Dr. Komma said she started making plans to pay the $2,997.25 she was quoted.

"She told me to go to 1 South River Road in Bedford, that they have their office down there," said Dr. Komma.

That's when the Bedford Veterinary Medical Center staff looked into this issue.

"All of our bills were up to date, and then we were like, 'OK, it’s a scam,'" said Dr. Komma.

"The sense of urgency is a big red flag," said Kaitlyn Woods, Spokeswoman for Eversource New Hampshire, "we don't demand instant payments to keep your power going."

"I had to stop what I was doing and then put the clients on wait and then take care of this," Dr. Komma said.

"We have pets in the hospital," said Dr. Komma, "we need them to be comfortable."

Eversource, New Hampshire cautions customers that receive calls like this to call the company and check their status.

Eversource says, "After working for a period of time with a customer to set up a payment plan and sending notices, we do eventually reach a point where we will disconnect power if payment is not received."

To report scams to Eversource, call 800-286-2000 as well as your local police station.

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