5 Ways to Recognize Fraud and Scams

This year, an unusually active hurricane season brought strong
and destructive storms, a pandemic swept the globe and a record
number of wildfires burned in the West. This has left many disaster
survivors in vulnerable situations and has led to an increase in
scammers looking to take advantage of people during stressful
times.

Scams can take many different forms, including phone calls,
texts, mail or email, websites, or in person.

Here’s how a scam might look:

You receive an email from someone claiming to be a FEMA
employee. They ask for your cash app information and social
security number. They claim they will send you money after you send
them this information.

In this scenario, it is likely the message is a
scam sent from a fake account. It is important to
remember that FEMA will never ask you for money or
fees to provide disaster assistance. FEMA websites will be
identified as official U.S. Government sites and will never accept
credit card information for payments or donations.

Here are five ways to recognize and prevent scams.

1. Don’t trust anyone who offers financial help and then asks
   for money or personal information. Federal and local disaster
   workers do not solicit or accept money.
2. Resist the pressure to act immediately. Scammers pressure you
   to provide information immediately, they want you to act before you
   have time to think.
3. Know how scammers will ask you to pay. They often insist that
   you pay by sending money through a money transfer company or by
   putting money on a gift card and then giving them the number on the
   back.
4. Stop and talk to someone you trust. Before you do anything
   else, tell someone – a friend, a family member, a neighbor – what
   happened. Talking about it could help you realize it’s a
   scam.
5. Research and be aware of common scams by visiting the Federal Trade
   Commission website.

FEMA also works to identify these scams and protect survivors
from them. When we suspect fraudulent behavior, we work with
federal partners to act against those bad actors. We monitor the
use of agency logos and trademarks and the Department of Homeland
Security seal and have successfully removed unauthorized products
and fraudulent websites seeking online donations.

We also use best practices such as data mining, pattern
recognition, awareness training and other techniques to proactively
mitigate and stop fraud – often before funds are sent. FEMA
coordinates and shares information with federal and state partners
to improve fraud prevention efforts across the nation.

You can help prevent scams and disaster fraud by reporting them.
If something about a situation makes you feel uncomfortable or you
suspect fraud, report it to local law enforcement, the FEMA
Disaster Fraud Hotline or the�Department of Justice
Fraud Hotline.