BOERUM HILL — A Boerum Hill pizzeria was scammed out of $3,500 by men posing as Con Edison employees who threatened to shut off the eatery's power, according to police and the restaurant.
Numero 28 Pizzeria, located at 68 Bergen St., was the victim of a citywide scam last week where scammers demanded their victims pay supposedly pending utility bills using a prepaid money card.
The eatery received a phone call on Oct. 18 from a "Mr. Robert," who pretended to work for Con Edison and claimed that the restaurant's electricity would be shut off unless they paid $2,000 using a prepaid "Money Pak" card, according to the police report.
The pizzeria owners bought the card and gave the pin number to the scammers at 3:15 p.m., but 45 minutes later, they received another phone call from "Mr. Plyevans" who posed as another Con Ed official and claimed they needed an additional $3,000, police said.
A second prepaid card was purchased for $1,500. Fabrizia Zimichele, whose family owns the restaurant, called back and gave them the pin number at about 4:48 p.m., according to police and Zimichele.
Both payments were made using cash, Zimichele said.
At 5 p.m. the eatery called Con Ed's real phone number and were told they do not accept payments through prepaid cards. Con Ed has warned customers of the scam since at least 2012.
Zimichele told DNAinfo Tuesday afternoon that the voice recording on the fake phone number appeared to exactly match the official Con Ed one.
The scammers not only had the exact amount owed to ConEd by the restaurant — $5,000, which her father had paid that morning — but they also called other Numero 28 locations in Texas and Brooklyn, she said.
"He told me the guy was coming to disconnect the service in one hour, one-hour-and-a-half," she said.
Other notable crimes in the 84th Precinct, according to police, include:
► A silver Jeep parked on State Street in Brooklyn Heights was broken into between Oct. 15 and Oct. 17, police said. The property stolen from the vehicle included prescription glasses, Ray-Ban sunglasses, an Apple laptop, bracelets and clothing.
