Law enforcement warns against FEMA related scams

WARE COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV) — The Ware County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) is warning people of FEMA related scams on Thursday.

“Unfortunately, as many are still without power, running water, and clean up/restoration efforts continue in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, scammers are trying to take advantage of people at the worst possible time—to include FEMA-related rip-offs,” the post by WCSO said. “It should be noted that as of now there should NOT be ANY FEMA workers in the area interacting with the general public; representatives of FEMA will likely come to the area in the coming weeks.”

The WCSO reminded the public that there are ways to hopefully prevent falling victim of a scam such as:

• Checking the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) website and their Facebook page, which posts about how to avoid and report scams.
• NOT paying any fees, as FEMA will NEVER ask for money to apply for assistance or to fill out applications.
• NOT sharing any personal information —to include banking information (checks, financial cards, etc.).
• NOT giving out personal information to anyone claiming to be a FEMA or a federal employee through unsolicited calls or emails.

Reporting fraud:

As a resident of Ware County, should you become the victim of fraud, please contact 911, and file an incident report with the appropriate local law enforcement agency.

You can also report it to the FEMA Fraud Branch by emailing the following address: StopFEMAFraud@fema.dhs.gov or call the FEMA Helpline at 1-800-621-3362.