This week, my wife called me to tell me we had a visitor at our door from FEMA. The visitor was responding to a request for assistance due to Hurricane IDA. The only issues were

• Our home was narrowly spared of any damage.
• Neither of us had called FEMA for help.

Apparently, we were not alone. There are a lot of ill attempts at collecting government funds when residents and businesses in the county are so badly hurt.

Some of you have legitimate claims. For that, I may suggest the following tips that FEMA sent me.

• Communication methods to contact applicants. Inspectors may be calling from issued phones or personal cell phones, so applicants may receive calls from different area codes.
• If you have any doubts when receiving a call or an inspection visit from someone stating they are FEMA personnel, do not give out any information, but call (800)-621-3362 (TTY: (800)-462-7585) between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. ET to verify the call or visit is legitimate.
• There may be occasions when a FEMA representative must contact you to verify personal data. When applying for assistance, you will receive a nine-digit registration number that can be used for reference when corresponding with FEMA. That is the number you would use to check the status of your application online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, when calling the FEMA Helpline at 1-(800)-621-3362 if you have knowledge of fraud, waste, or abuse, you can report these tips – 24 hours a day, seven days a week – to the FEMA Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or email disaster@leo.gov.