As Southwest Michigan residents apply for federal disaster aid to help recover from flooding and severe weather in April, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is warning them to look out for scams.
FEMA spokesperson Daniel Bernardy said fraudulent activity usually increases after disasters.
"Unfortunately, as with any disaster, and Michigan is no exception, there are bad actors out there, scammers, con artists that try to get money. They follow the federal money and they ask for your personal information to try to steal your identity."
Bernardy said an easy way to tell if someone's a scammer is if they charge a fee.
"Everything we do is free. So, if anybody says, 'We collect a fee to help you fill out an application, there's a fee for this inspection, there's a fee for anything,' No. That is absolutely a scam. We will never ask for money."
He said one fraud tactic is posing as a FEMA inspector and visiting a home unprompted, adding that residents should always ask for verification.
“A FEMA employee will always have photo identification. So, you should —and a survivor should — always feel empowered to ask for that. Ask for the photo ID,” Bernardy said.
"Also, if it's a FEMA inspector, they're going to already have your nine-digit registration number. So, also feel empowered to ask for that."
Bernardy added that residents who are visited by scammers pretending to be FEMA employees should contact the local authorities.
Outside of in-person tactics, he said fraudsters may also try to contact residents over the phone or via email.
Bernardy added that FEMA is there to help residents with concerns about potential fraud.
“In any scenario, you can just say, ‘You know what? My gut is just telling me, you know, something's just not right here.’ Hang up, call the FEMA helpline. It's 800-621-3362 and let us guide you through this process.”
However, he did note that anyone who was approved for relief and opted into legitimate mobile or online payment options should expect an email from a seemingly sketchy address.
“You are going to receive an email specifically from noreply@digitalpayouts.com. And I say that, quickly, because the point is, it is a non-dot-gov domain email address. So, that is a legitimate trusted vendor.”
The filing deadline for federal disaster assistance is August 31.
