UPDATE: SDG&E contacted 10News on Friday with an update on the identity of the two men. It turns out they are actually legitimate workers. SDG&E sent the following statement:
After further investigation on our end, while not SDG&E employees, we have determined that the two individuals in question were employees of a contractor working for SDG&E. The project includes site visits to customer gas meters to collect information and multi-meter readings.SDG&E employees and contractors will be able to identify themselves as such. We encourage customers to call the SDG&E Customer Call Center at 1 (800) 411-7343 to validate work being done their area or report suspicious individuals to local law enforcement authorities. SDG&E employees and contractors will never ask for payment, personal information or to see a utility bill.
CARLSBAD, Calif. – Residents in north San Diego County should be aware of fake utility workers going door-to-door claiming to be checking gas meters.
This latest incident comes after Carlsbad police put out an alert earlier this month warning residents about men who were posing as construction workers and burglarizing homes.
On Thursday, a Carlsbad man told 10News he confronted two men claiming to be utility workers. The men had reflective vests and one was wearing a hard hat. Both had blank IDs around their necks.
"Really bogus, you could tell, clearly not the real deal," resident Joe Secola told 10News.
Secola snapped a photo of the suspects.
"They were going up and down to every house, and they guy behind with the hard hat was walking with a clipboard. And his partner went up and rang the doorbell and came back, and they get together, and make notes, and they go to the next house."
Secola said he confronted them and exposed their con.
"And they walk up to our house… nobody answers. And I say, ‘hey, what are you looking for?’ (They respond), ‘well it has to do with an electrical ground problem.’ And I go, ‘no,’ I know this is B.S. at this point."
Secola called 911, but by the time officers arrived, the suspects were gone.
A spokesperson for San Diego Gas & Electric, which services the area, told 10News the men are not associated with the agency and no work was being done in that neighborhood.
Police said there were no reported burglaries or thefts in the area the men were spotted and no evidence of criminal activity.
