LADWP

Northridge Couple Warns Residents About Scammers Posing as LADWP Employees

"The customer did the right thing in this case and turned the scammers away."

Two men posing as workers for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power attempted to gain entry into a home in Northridge, and the couple that thwarted the attempted scam shared video of the men to warn others.

LADWP says the couple did the right thing and also warned residents to be on the lookout for this scam. According to the Next Door app, about a dozen residents have complained about the same type of scam.

The two young men were wearing vests, one was wearing a hard hat and the other wearing a baseball hat. They claimed to be working for the LADWP, but Samuel Cividanis sensed something wasn't right.

"They were young, no uniforms, no truck--it just felt very weird to me," Cividanis, who shared the video, said.

Cividanis signaled the men to leave through his window, but when he went outside, he saw the men going to other homes. When Cividanis and his wife informed neighbors during the Next Door app, about a dozen residents in the area said the same two men attempted the same scam at their homes.

"The customer did the right thing in this case and turned the scammers away," Sharon Grove of LADWP Customer Service said.

Grove added, "This is of great concern to those of us in the department."

The LADWP representative told NBCLA that their customer service department always knows if workers are going out to a home and customers can verify that by calling and by asking for photo identification.

"He shows me a clipboard with the LADWP logo on it and some other program name I wasn't able to read," Cividanis said. "I sensed it was odd." 

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