Florida official warns Hurricane Milton victims about scammers posing as FEMA workers
FILE - Resident Kerry Flynn, right, and a friend walk past a damaged home and the displaced roof of their 55+ mobile home community’s tiki hut after the passage of Hurricane Milton, on Manasota Key, in Englewood, Fla., Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — The emergency management chief of the Florida county where Hurricane Milton made landfall earlier this month warned about reports of scammers in the area who are posing as Federal Emergency Management Agency officials and trying to get financial information from the storm’s victims.
Sarasota County Emergency Management Chief Sandra Tapfumaneyi told residents on Thursday that some scammers with fake FEMA badges were asking residents for their bank account information, which they should never provide. Instead, hurricane victims seeking help should only share that on FEMA’s online system, she said.
“Don’t give out your bank account information to anyone who is knocking on your door,” Tapfumaneyi said. “That is not an indication that they are there to help you. Don’t give cash to anyone who says they are from FEMA.”
Residents with any doubts about the authenticity of a FEMA worker should contact local authorities, she said.
Milton made landfall last week in Sarasota County as a Category 3 hurricane, just two weeks after Hurricane Helene also tore through Florida before raking much of the southeast, including western North Carolina.
In North Carolina, the work of FEMA workers was suspended for a short time last weekend following reports that FEMA workers could be targeted by militia as the government responds to Helene. A sheriff’s office said earlier this week that one man was arrested during an investigation, but that the suspect acted alone.