Matt Elzweig, a New York based reporter, interviewed Consumerist Editor Ben Popken about the site, how to protect yourself from getting screwed, and neighborhood.

Are there any consumer issues, locally, that Consumerist is particularly concerned about?

There’s one–IDT Energy. What they are is an energy resaler. Con Ed encourages using these companies. However, this one company, IDT Energy, is going to peoples’ doors and saying, “Hi, I’m with Con Ed. I need you to sign this so you can save money on your bill.” So, they’re misrepresenting themselves. [You] can save money. It’s just false advertising. That’s the central problem. They came to my door. It was great–I’ve been writing about these guys, and all of a sudden, one shows up [at] my door. And after he left, [laughing] I called the cops on him.

Q & A with Ben Popken, Editor, The Consumerist [A Downtown Reporter]

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