Thieves are ready to pounce on home and property owners at their weakest moments.
SAN ANTONIO — Last weekend’s winter storm may be a memory for many of us, but for others, the cleanup and repair is just the beginning. Scammers are ready to pounce on people already panicking over their busted belongings.
Whenever we have severe weather causing damage there is an avalanche of communications from scammers posing as home repair people, auto repair, and even fake insurance brokers, that’s why you need to know what to look for to avoid becoming a victim.
“It’s not like a typical storm chasing scenario where we see a damaged path, or we see people that are grazed by hail or tornado. Unfortunately, the cold affects everybody,” Jason Meza, the communications spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau of South Texas said.
Some common red flags include a sense of urgency where they want you to pay quickly.
“I think feeling that sense of pressure, that urgency to act, to give information, to make a payment, hit the pause button on that, especially right now during this time,” Meza added.
And try to look out for spoofed caller ID numbers.
“Caller ID can be manipulated. Meaning don’t trust. Don’t be so quick to trust your caller ID the screen can make it appear like anybody is calling or texting,” Meza said.
Another tip is to watch out for suspicious links and be wary of unsolicited emails or phone calls.
“Your local provider, CPS energy, SAWS, will not demand immediate payment through a text message or a phone call,” Meza said.
ERCOT also won’t message you about power outages or the state of the grid, and will only give information through official updates. And make sure to report any scam to the BBB with their scam tracker.
“People might have gotten duped or been a near miss victim, and they’re just not stepping forward and saying, this is what we found. We need every report, every piece of data helps us on reporting that.”