Disasters bring out criminals looking to prey on survivors who appear to be easy targets for their scams.
Survivors should be aware that fraud and scams can occur anytime. FEMA encourages survivors to be alert and report any suspicious activity or potential fraud by scam artists, identity thieves and other criminals.
Anyone who suspects fraud or scams should call the FEMA Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721, TTY call 711. The toll-free number is open 24 hours a day.
Common tactics used by scam artists include phone calls from people claiming to work for FEMA. The caller may ask for the survivor’s Social Security number, income or banking information.
Survivors should never trust someone claiming to be a disaster assistance employee asking for money. FEMA does not endorse any commercial business, product or service, and local and federal disaster assistance workers do not solicit or accept money.
Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including sexual harassment), sexual orientation, age, disability, limited English proficiency, or economic status. If you believe your civil rights are being violated, you can call the Civil Rights Resource line at 833-285-7448.
For the latest information visit fema.gov/disaster/4720. Follow the FEMA Region 1 account at Twitter twitter.com/FEMARegion1 or the FEMA Facebook page at facebook.com/FEMA.
For updates on the Vermont response and recovery, follow the Vermont Emergency Management Agency twitter.com/vemvt on Twitter and Facebook facebook.com/vermontemergencymanagement.