Attorney general warns public about storm scammers
Attorney General Josh Stein meets with first responders at Canton’s town hall on Oct. 7.
Cory Vaillancourt photo
Josh Stein, North Carolina’s attorney general, visited Canton today to survey damage, to talk with local leaders and first responders and to caution those seeking to profit off of the misery of a storm-lashed region.
“Right now our price gouging law is in effect because the state of emergency is in effect, and that means that sellers cannot charge unfair, unreasonable prices," Stein told The Smoky Mountain News Oct. 7. “If folks out there are experiencing it, they're seeing either goods or services that they need to get their lives back on track and being charged too high a price, file a complaint with our office by calling 877.5NO.SCAM, or when the internet comes back, ncdoj.gov/pricegouging.”
Stein said that as of this morning, his office had received around 240 complaints on everything from groceries to gas to hotel rooms, and that at least four of them thus far had enough substance to warrant formal investigation.
Another storm-related scam — perhaps the worst, because it preys on human kindness — is charitable fraud.
“The stories coming out of Western North Carolina are so emotionally devastating that folks want to give and give generously,” Stein said. “But that makes it easy for criminals to pretend to be someone they're not by creating a GoFundMe campaign that sounds incredibly sympathetic, or creating a charity that has a wonderful name and putting up a website and taking people's money rather than having that money going to the proposed the use that they're presenting.”
Those wishing to make financial donations to aid in Hurricane Helene recovery should ensure that private organizations are reputable before making contributions. The safest bet is to consider donating to your county’s United Way. Or, visit readync.gov/get-involved/donate to find a list of bona-fide charitable organizations.
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Finally, storms like Helene invariably bring with them fly-by-night home repair scams meant to take advantage of people with urgent needs, like roofing, paving or debris removal. While many respectable tradespeople are out there hoping to help, some may be untrustworthy. Stein said best practices include getting multiple bids on jobs — in writing, so expectations like scope of work and payment schedules are clear to everyone.
“You do not want to pay money in advance, because it's so easy for folks, particularly drive-by folks to come in, take money up front and disappear and never be found again,” Stein said.
