- Hi everyone.
My name is Stephanie Duke, I'm a staff attorney
and Equal Justice Works' Disaster Resilience fellow
at Disability Rights Texas.
And today is part of our first ever
Disaster Resilience Awareness Month
where we're bringing you a variety of trainings and sessions
on disaster-related issues.
So today's is about consumer issues and disasters.
And our Q and A would not be possible
without the work and collaboration from Consumer Action.
Through education and advocacy,
Consumer Action fights for strong consumer rights
and policies that promote fairness
and financial prosperity or stability
for underrepresented communities.
The information I will be sharing today
is very topical and broad
but we will have a supplemental presentation
that goes into more depth
provided by my colleague, Linda Williams,
the community outreach and training manager
at Consumer Action.
So we're just gonna kind of have a couple of questions
that I'll answer very broadly, like I said,
but when a disaster strikes, bad actors exist.
So people are going to come in to further enrich themselves
and take advantage of the situation.
So these con artists, scammers, thieves,
are looking for money-making opportunities at your expense.
So the first question is, what are they stealing?
These bad actors are looking
for your personal identifying information, PII.
So how do they steal it?
Well, there's generally three broad ways.
Physically, in the event that you have to evacuate
and are displaced, your residence is left unattended.
So after a disaster, there may be documents, mailing around
with your name or information on it.
So they can physically get that information.
If they're in there sifting through, you know,
disaster-related debris or garbage,
or even looting in some places.
The second way is misrepresentation.
Some individuals will say that they represent, you know,
a disaster relief service or the IRS,
or even an insurance inspector,
housing inspector that's coming out,
when they in fact actually don't, but then you assume
and you give them information without knowing.
And then the third way is one of the most common methods
in receiving emails.
And it's called phishing, is a technique
where it seems like it's being generated
from a legitimate source but it's asking you for information
through an email communication.
So those are three ways to know how they steal it.
Now, what do they do with this information
once they have it?
Basically it's identity theft.
They are taking your good name
to use for their own enrichment.
Mortgage scams can happen from it
and then disaster relief scams can happen
where they actually use your name
to get the disaster relief services
you would be entitled to.
Or even contractor scams, where everybody's trying
to get recovery done, and you find a contractor,
of course it's always gonna be scarce resources,
but they may do part of the work with the upfront payment
and then they disappear.
So those are things you need to be leery about.
So let's talk about identity theft.
What is identity theft?
It's when they get ahold of your PII.
So when they get your name, date of birth
mother's maiden name, social security number,
account numbers, banking information,
or even medical information.
And then they use this information, like I said,
to enrich themselves,
to make money in some way, shape or form
that is not theirs to begin with.
So how do you prevent it?
How do you prepare before a disaster strikes?
You reduce your risk beforehand.
You protect your online information.
And I'll admit it too, I have a lot of the same passwords
for my accounts, so be sure you have strong passwords
and know where that information is.
Sign up for alerts from your financial institutions
or credit card accounts.
When they ding you or text you saying unauthorized activity
or strange activity, monitor your financial statements,
your banking statements, your credit card.
And especially if you have reoccurring automatic,
be sure to look at that stuff
and see what's coming out of your account
on a regular basis.
and protect your medical identity.
So anytime you're...
And first your medical insurance card,
carry it like a credit card, in your wallet,
don't leave it around.
But if you have medical documents or prescription bottles
that are no longer needed, shred them,
so that way you don't have that information laying around.
If, in the event your medical ID is stolen,
contact your insurance, Medicare and Medicaid providers
right away to let them know.
Protect your mobile devices.
Always know where it is because we all now, you know,
our whole life is in those things.
And then continually check your credit reports
along with your financial banking institutions too.
And if you're looking for contractors, have a plan.
I mean, if you live in a flood zone or hurricane zone
and the potential of having damage exists,
check out some plumbers or contractors in the area
that are rated by Better Business Bureau
or get referrals from friends ahead of time
so that way you know how to contact them
and have a legitimate source of recovery to go to.
So how can you continue to prevent identity theft
after a disaster?
Always document the damage.
Call your insurance companies right away if you have.
Photograph everything that has to do with the disaster
and damage, keep your receipts,
and as much documentation as you can.
Secure your PII and any other important documents,
especially if you have to evacuate.
So make the plan beforehand.
If that information
is not stored digitally somewhere beforehand,
upload it so that way you have it there
because you're gonna need that information
if you're displaced for an amount of time
and are trying to access services.
Your lease agreement, mortgage papers, insurance papers,
put that all somewhere
where are you can access it digitally
in the event you can't get back home.
But if you have to evacuate,
make sure you know where that important paperwork is
so you can secure it or take it with you.
And in the event there is a nationally-declared disaster
and FEMA comes in, register for FEMA.
You don't always have to take their assistance,
but it is a process and you need to get signed up for it
as soon as you can.
So what documents should be secured
in case you need to evacuate or take it?
So I mentioned financial records, lease agreements,
mortgage papers, insurance, your government ID,
whether it's a driver's license, passport, residence card,
any medical insurance cards or prescriptions
so that way you have that information with you as well.
So in preparation, also think about having insurance.
You know, recovery takes years up to decades.
So if you can afford to have insurance,
renter's, homeowner's, make sure
you take advantage of that as well.
So what should you do if you do become a victim
of identity theft?
Well, let your financial institutions know right away,
banking, credit cards, they'll put a freeze on your account
and there are processes to negate charges
that you didn't make.
So you'll have to figure out along those.
Also know how you're protected
under credit and federal protections.
That way, if for some reason,
someone starts running up a lot of credit.
And then don't be complacent.
Continue to check those financial statements
and where your information is being used
and know that just because if it happens once,
you're not gonna be immune
from a second identity theft issue.
You might become more susceptible again to those issues.
So be proactive and plan and know how you can preplan
whether it's getting names of contractors beforehand,
setting up your alerts for financial, banking stuff
and also what your rights are if you do become a victim
of identity theft, deceptive trade practices
for consumers at the state level,
price gouging is always an issue, contract issues.
So make sure you know of your legal aids
in that area as well that can help with those processes.
So like I said, this was just very topical and broad.
We will have a link to Linda Williams
with Consumer Actions' full presentation
about identity theft and scam issues and disasters.
So please, when you have time,
make sure you take a look at that
so that way you can be more prepared
in the time of a disaster.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
We appreciate it.
Stay safe and be prepared.