Vice President of Customer Service, Marketing & Energy Efficiency, New Jersey Resources
Search every verified Marissa Travaline interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a September 2021 interview, Marissa Travaline, then Vice President of Customer Experience at South Jersey Industries, discussed an increase in utility scams during the pandemic. She stated that scammers were targeting customers who were behind on bills for the first time, creating a sense of urgency by threatening immediate shutoffs. Travaline noted that New Jersey had a moratorium on shutoffs at the time, and advised customers to contact their utility directly or use online portals to verify account balances. She reported that customers in Gloucester and Cumberland counties had lost thousands of dollars to these scams. Travaline said that South Jersey Industries does not directly pursue scammers but works with law enforcement when needed. She encouraged customers who fall victim to contact local police, adding that the company would assist with payment arrangements and provide information to support investigations. Her comments focused on public awareness and directing customers to verify communications through official utility channels.
“What we're seeing is just more customers who are currently in arrears and the reason this is so timely is there are folks who are now behind on their utility bills for the first time perhaps. They may have never fallen behind before and they don't know what to expect or what kind of options they have available to them,...”
“Scammers are able to create a sense of urgency among a customer to potentially take an action without really thinking it through, often prompting customers to purchase gift cards or payment cards or use unfamiliar apps to pay their bills. Those kinds of things should create an alarm for a customer.”
“We are currently not shutting customers off at all because of the moratorium in the state of New Jersey. If someone reaches out to a residential customer and threatens immediate shut off, you can be certain that that's not going to happen.”
“The first thing you want to do is reach out to your utility if you're concerned or if you don't believe that call is a valid call from your utility. You can also use services like the 'My Account' portal offered by South Jersey Gas and Elizabethtown Gas to control your customer information and validate your account bal...”
Larry interviews Marissa Travaline, VP Customer Experience of Storm Safety, about scams and scare tactics that use the ...
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