LULING, La. — FEMA has already given out $620 million in Ida disaster assistance.
And while we're hearing from many of you who are still waiting for grants, we're also hearing from people who might be victims of identity theft.
Like many of the people in Luling, Gary Steckel's home is in need of lots of costly repairs after Hurricane Ida. So like many of us, he went online and applied for a FEMA grant. That's when he was hit with something totally unexpected.
“And when I got down to the bottom, where you do an electronic signature, they said that somebody had already filed under my name,” said Gary Steckel of Luling.
With your social security number only optional on the screen he filled out, he saw how the person pulled it off.
“And they did it by using an old E-mail I had from the company I'm retired from now. Well it made me sick at first because it's like, ‘Man what the, what's going on here?’”
Gary is not the only Ida victim now being victimized by people out to cheat the system for free money. Our newsroom is hearing from others. So we asked a FEMA representative what you should do.
“Let us know what the situation is. FEMA will accept your application and review it, and everything will be flagged for review,” said John Mills, External Affairs spokesman for FEMA.
FEMA says first to make sure someone else in your family did not apply as well. Only one application per household is allowed. And if that is not the case, call the FEMA Fraud Hotline or the National Center for Disaster Fraud at the U.S. Justice Department.
“Unfortunately, if someone's trying to take advantage of the situation and delay assistance trying to go to a disaster survivor, we take that very seriously and that would be a crime,” said Mills.
Gary reported what happened to the FEMA Fraud Line and got an e-mail back saying they are investigating. For now, he's worried someone will get the money he needs for home repairs while scamming taxpayers out of their hard-earned money.
“I'm going to pay this person to take money that I should have. Somebody's going to get money from the government if they don't double-check,” said Steckel.
And he hopes it's not his grant money.
If you suspect fraud, call the FEMA Disaster Fraud Hotline. It's toll-free at 866-720-5721 or click here to view the website
For more information about the U.S. Department of Justice National Center for Disaster Fraud click here.