Hurricane Scams – Adding Insult to Injury

Power outages, blown-off roofs, gasoline storages and other predicaments plagued these affected areas for days and weeks after the hurricanes passed.

In fact, thousands of homes, apartments and businesses in Florida, as well as in other states, suffered considerable structural damage.

Unfortunately, there were countless lawbreakers looking to take advantage of these suffering homeowners by conning them with shoddy home repairs (or by taking upfront money and doing nothing at all).

Now, at the start of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which many experts forecast to be above average in storm frequency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a hurricane scam alert.

According to the FBI, beware of the home repair rip-off artists who follow in the wake of these tropical storms.

Home repair crooks swoop in after hurricanes, not to mention other natural disasters, and prey on homeowners desperate to get their lives back to normal. These criminals know that many legitimate companies are booked for months after major disasters and that some frustrated homeowners won't do their homework before signing on the dotted line.

How do these crooks operate? Here are just two examples:

Sadly, home repair scams cost unsuspecting Americans billions of dollars a year. Crooks often target seniors, low-income families and other innocent consumers.

So, how can you protect yourself? Here are some tips from the FBI:

(Note: If you manufacture or distribute any Security, Safety, Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Defense or Crime Prevention related products, please send information on your product line for possible future reference in this column to: CrimePrevention123@yahoo.com.)

Copyright 2005 by Bruce Mandelblit

"Staying Safe" with Bruce Mandelblit is a regular column for the readers of NewsMax.com and NewsMax.com Magazine.

Bruce welcomes your thoughts. His -email address is: CrimePrevention123@yahoo.com. Bruce is a nationally known security journalist, as well as a recently retired, highly decorated reserve Law Enforcement Officer.

Bruce writes Staying Safe, a weekly syndicated column covering the topics of security, safety and crime prevention.

Bruce was commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel – the state's highest honor – for his public service.

This column is provided for general information purposes only. Please check with your local law enforcement agency and legal professional for information specific to you and your jurisdiction.

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