Fresno scammers pose as PG&E employees

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Neighbors say scammers are making the rounds in Fresno and Clovis; this time posing as PG&E workers and asking for personal information.

Dane Fogderude was at home Monday afternoon when an unexpected visitor came to the door.

"It's scary, you never know," Fogderude said. "He had a badge that said PG&E and he had the orange vest on that the workers sometimes wear."

The man said he worked for Pacific Gas and Electric then asked for a copy of Dane's most recent bill. When Dane held back the man kept pushing.

"He wanted to look at my rates and to see what I was paying for gas," Fogderude said. "I asked him if he worked for PG&E, why would he need to see my bill?"

Dane posted the encounter on his Next Door app. It turns out a lot of people have seen the same guy and not just in Fresno.

"If you aren't expecting somebody from a company and they are asking you questions certainly don't give them that information," Sgt. Mark Hudson with the Fresno Police Department suggested.

PG&E has received reports of similar cases across the state. The most vulnerable include the elderly and non-native English speakers.

This February a man posing as a PG&E worker robbed a woman in Northwest Fresno.

"Certainly people have come up to a house to try and gain access just by posing to be somebody else so they actually do a home invasion," Hudson said.

Dane says, luckily, he didn't fall for the scam.

"After he left, I did call PG&E to ask if they had heard of this before and they said he's probably a fraud," he said. "We wouldn't send anyone out, we would call you before."

He didn't lose any personal information and is sharing his story, worried others might fall victim to the same thing.

"It seemed it could be legit," Fogderude said. "But then the more he talked and couldn't explain anything I was like 'no, something is up.'"