Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NIPSCO and other public utility workers carry photo identification and should be asked to show it if they want to enter your home.
Also, customers are billed for any work done by such companies and are not expected to pay the serviceman.
Area residents are reminded of the possibility that they may be victimized after a Winona Lake woman was recently scammed out of $1,600.
The elderly woman apparently let a man posing as a NIPSCO worker into her home Friday under the guise that he was inspecting fuse boxes due to a rash of fires in the area. He said that the fires resulted from poor fuse boxes and asked to see hers. After looking at the fuse box for a few minutes, the man informed her that it was hot and could easily start a fire. Therefore, he would need to fix it.
After making a telephone call to verify whether he had the necessary parts in his truck, the man "fixed" the problem and told the woman that the bill would be $1,600.
The woman wrote him a check, leaving the name area blank because the man said it would be stamped, and he left. He later returned to the woman's house because the bank said the account had insufficient funds and refused to cash the check. The woman then accompanied the man to another bank and had a certified check made out to herself, endorsed it and gave it to him. He cashed it later that day at the first bank.
This incident is being investigated by the Winona Lake Police Department. The suspect is described as between the ages of 35 and 40, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, with brown or black hair and driving a large white truck.
NIPSCO officials said that if a resident has doubts about whether a person at their door is a NIPSCO employee, to call 800-4-NIPSCO for further verification before allowing anyone to enter the home.
