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  Geebo 8:00 am on October 12, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: flood cars ( 3 ), hurricane ( 7 ), hurricane ian, Scams ( 1,354 ), used car ( 33 )   

  Flood damaged cars are about to hit the market 

  

  By Greg Collier

  By some estimates, 300,000 cars were damaged by flooding in the wake of Hurricane Ian. Many of them will end up being a total loss. However, this won’t stop many of these vehicles from ending up on car lots in states that weren’t affected by the storm. Potentially, you could be car shopping in Arizona and end up buying a flood damaged car from Florida without even knowing.

  This is done through a process called title-washing. When a car damaged to the point where the insurance company considers it a loss, the car is issued a salvage title. The problem with salvage titles is the amount of damage required varies by state. For example, one state may require the car’s damage to be 75% of its worth. Meanwhile, another state may require the damage to be 85% of the car’s worth. This way, unscrupulous car dealers could move the car from one state to the other to get a clean title.

  You can protect yourself from this scam. One of the best ways is to get a vehicle history of the car from a service like CARFAX. This could help you pinpoint if a vehicle was in a certain area during a natural disaster.

  A thorough inspection of the vehicle is also recommended to avoid buying a flood car. If the car smells musty, there’s a good chance it’s been caught in a flood. Also, be wary of a car that has an overpowering smell of air freshener or deodorizer, as that could be covering up the musty smell. Look for signs of water damage like mud and waterlines. Look for them in places like the trunk, under the dashboard, and in the glove box. You should also check for inordinate amounts of rust for a vehicle that may not be as old as it looks.

  Lastly, if you suspect someone of trying to sell you a damaged flood vehicle, you can report it to the FEMA Disaster Fraud Hotline toll-free at 866-720-5721 or at the FTC’s website.

   

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  Geebo 8:00 am on October 3, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: hurricane ( 7 ), hurricane ian, power restoration, Scams ( 1,354 ), utility scam ( 31 )   

  Scammers promise to restore power in wake of hurricane 

  

  By Greg Collier

  Hurricane Ian was one of the most devastating storms to ever make landfall in the US. In Florida alone, roughly 2 million residents are still without power. They may not see their power restored until later this week or possibly next week. And that’s with over 20,000 electrical workers working around the clock. Leave it to scammers though to make the worst out of an already bad situation.

  With so many Florida residents being without power, the scammers saw this as an opportunity. The scammers are posing as one of Florida’s major power providers and promising victims they can get their power restored faster if they make a payment. Victims are being sent barcodes or QR codes that appear to mimic the power company’s online payment system. Except, the payments are going to scammers rather than the power company.

  Power companies do not prioritize certain customers after an extreme outage like this. Typically, power is first restored to critical services like hospitals and emergency services. Then power is restored to customers in the quickest way possible. There is no way they can prioritize one customer over another on a house by house basis.

  While it may sound tempting in the moments after a natural disaster, if someone claims they can turn your power on sooner for money, they are trying to scam you.

  This is just one of many scams that can plague the victims of natural disasters. Typically, scammers may try to file a FEMA claim in your name before you can. If a FEMA representative shows up at your home before you’ve contacted them, a scammer may have filed a claim in your name. Then there are the phony contractors that chase storms like this looking for victims. The Cape Coral police have several tips on how to avoid these con artists.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on September 30, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: hostage ( 3 ), hurricane ( 7 ), hurricane ian, natural disasters ( 19 ), Scams ( 1,354 )   

  The hurricane hostage scam 

  

  By Greg Collier

  Whenever there is a hurricane or other natural disaster in the country, we typically warn our readers about the usual scams. For example, we warn our readers that if they ever experience damage to your home from a natural disaster, be wary of contractors who drive up to your home offering to make repairs. Often these contractors are unlicensed and are looking to make a quick buck with shoddy work. We also tell our readers to be wary of unsolicited calls from FEMA or insurance companies. They could be scammers looking to get your financial or personal information. Our readers from outside the disaster area also get warned to be aware of fake charities claiming to be collecting for the victims, as they could be scams as well. For the first time, we now have to warn our readers about scammers who claim to have found a family member in the storms.

  A retiree from Florida did not evacuate her home in the days leading up to Hurricane Ian making landfall. She had survived many previous hurricanes in her home, and the hurricane was predicted to miss her area. The predictions were incorrect. The retiree was on the phone with her daughter during the hurricane while showing her daughter video of the flooding taking place in the home.

  The call then went silent. The daughter, who also lives in Florida, called everyone she could think of to try to assist her mother. She called 911, the Coast Guard, and people she knew in the area her mom lived in. As a last resort, she took to social media, hoping someone could help her find her mother. She received a text from someone who claimed to have found her mother. However, the text sender said that the daughter needed to send close to $600 first to cover the cost of a hotel. The daughter knew something was suspect about the text and asked the person for her mother’s middle name. The person didn’t know it and stopped communication.

  Thankfully, some of the people in the area were able to find the retiree, who was relatively unharmed.

  If this scam sounds familiar to you, that’s because it’s the same scam that targets the owner’s of lost pets. It’s disturbing to think that there are people out there who are just waiting for someone to ask about a missing loved one in a hurricane, so they can try to scam them.

  The daughter handled the scammer about as perfectly as anyone could. She asked a question that only her mother would know. When confronted with that kind of questioning, scammers usually disappear.