A con man posing as a Dominion Resources employee in a phone scam targeting local businesses scammed the owner of Hana Sushi at Gloucester Point out of nearly $1,500.

Restaurant owner Ha Thuy Vong said that that the con man called during business hours on June 22 claiming that Dominion had yet to receive three months of payments for the business’s power bill.

The man, who used the alias Mark Montgomery, told Vong that if she did not pay $1,432 within 45 minutes, the building’s power would be shut down for up to a week. When the owner and staff informed the con man that they had paid all utility bills and had copies of checks to prove it, he claimed that Dominion had no record of the transaction.

When Vong asked about the quickest way to service this balance, she was told that the bill could be paid using cash but that the owner should divide the bill among three temporary debit cards for the quickest processing. She was instructed to ensure she had receipts proving the v...