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Feds warn of possible disaster fraud after typhoon

The U.S. Justice Department along with the FBI and the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) remind the public that there is a potential for disaster-related fraud in the aftermath of a natural disaster, according to a USDOJ national statement early this week.

 

Suspected fraudulent activity pertaining to relief efforts associated with Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines should be reported to the toll-free NCDF hotline at 866-720-5721.

 

“Because of the large Filipino population in Hawaii and throughout the Pacific, I wanted to re-blast this warning from the U.S. Department of Justice reminding the public to be mindful of disaster recovery scams that always seem to arise following mass-casualty tragedies,” FBI spokesman Tom Simon said via email from Honolulu on Thursday.

 

“We have no reports of any Hawaii victims of such schemes,” he said, adding that there are also no reports of victims in American Samoa, but encouraged local residents to be very mindful of these types of disaster-related fraud and to contact the NCDF hotline or local authorities when such incidents occur.

 

Samoa News should point out that the local Filipino community continues with their disaster relief drive. Today, Operation Bayanihan for typhoon victims gets underway with a radiothon on KHJ 93 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (See yesterday’s edition for more details).

 

Click on attachment to download details of the USDOJ warning statement.