Detectives need help to identify and find a man who posed as a utility worker and distracted a 75-year-old woman while her home was being burglarized.

Houston police said the man approached Ruth Dunn in the front yard of her home in the 9800 block of Palmfield near Palmsprings in southeast Houston about 5 p.m. on Jan. 7 and claimed to be with CenterPoint Energy.

The man told Dunn that he needed to talk to her about re-routing power lines in her back yard, officials said.

The woman followed Dunn into her back yard and the man abruptly walked off during their conversation, investigators said.

Detectives said Dunn went back into her house and found her purse and its contents dumped on the floor.

"I come in and went straight in my garage door," she said. "They took it. They took everything they could get."

Dunn later noticed that cash and jewelry were missing from her home, police said.

Police said thieves were ransacking Dunn's home while the fake utility worker distracted her.

Dunn said she had a feeling the man did not work for CenterPoint Energy, but she did not want to get hurt, so she did what he asked.

The man was described as white or Hispanic, in his late 40s or early 50s and about 5 feet 8 inches tall. The man may be a smoker because he has dirty yellow teeth. Investigators said he had an unkempt appearance.

Police said there have been similar crimes.

"This has been going on, that we've identified, at least through 2011," Officer Michael Ybanez said. "At least six or seven cases and in multiple areas of the city of Houston."

Detectives said the do not know if the crimes are connected.

CenterPoint Energy officials said it is usually not necessary for its employees to need to go inside a home as most of their work is done outside on power or natural gas lines. Employees do need to enter homes when restoring gas service to relight pilots to make sure it is safe to resume service.

All CenterPoint Energy vehicles are marked with the company's logo. All employees have identification badges. Residents can verify that an employee should be in their area by calling CenterPoint's call center at 713-659-2111 for natural gas or 713-207-2222 for electricity.

Anyone with information is asked to call the HPD Major Offenders Division Swindle Unit at 713-308-3100 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.