If you applied for FEMA assistance after Harvey, you might be getting a letter warning about possible fraud.
FEMA sent a letter to a flood victim who happens to work at KHOU and who previously applied for assistance.
The letter says the application is currently under investigation by FEMA because it may be linked to fraud. It states that he should monitor his credit report for any accounts or charges he doesn’t recognize.
“In cases of disaster, it brings out the best in humanity and it brings out the worst,” said FEMA spokesperson Pamela Saulsby.
Redonna Miller was at the Greenspoint Mall FEMA office Thursday looking for help to extend her family’s temporary housing assistance.
“I mean, it’s a lot of pressure not being in your home and living in a hotel,” said Miller.
She hates to hear that other flood victims are possibly being targeted by identity thieves and other crooks.
“People are already going through enough and I don’t understand how they could do that,” said Miller.
The local FEMA office could not provide specifics on how widespread the potential fraud is.
But individuals whose information may be at risk should get a notice directly from FEMA.
“So we ask anybody who receives these letters to read them carefully because it tells them specifically what to do to try and get on the right side of this situation,” said Saulsby.
It’s a situation that only complicates the lives of people who may be at their wit’s end as it is.
“A lot of people have lost everything and they’re just trying to get some help and then for somebody to go in and try and take that money away from them,” said Miller. “It’s really sad.”
FEMA has an enter division that deals with fraud. Here’s a link: https://www.fema.gov/disaster-fraud