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Flames & Fraud: Scammers prey on California’s crisis
Trending Like Wildfire
On January 7, 2025, devastating wildfires ripped through California, leaving a trail of destruction.
- The following day, January 8th, FEMA announced federal disaster assistance for California, aimed at supporting recovery efforts in wildfire and straight-line wind-affected areas, that started on January 7th and onward1
- Tragically, this crucial aid is being targeted by fraudsters. In addition to FEMA’s Disaster Assistance program, California’s Employment Development Department (EDD) is also being targeted, which offers Disaster Unemployment Assistance for those who are unable to work due to disaster-related impacts.2
Fanning the flames
Although fraudsters targeting disaster relief programs is not new, they do use natural disasters as an opportunity to exploit these designated funds.
Fraudsters are using compromised PII or “fullz” of both individuals and businesses to file fraudulent disaster claims.
In doing so, fraudsters claim to successfully receive approvals and large sums of money from the programs designed to help the victims of California.
Considerations
- There may be increased activity in fraudulent account openings within the California area which would conduits for the illicitly obtained disaster relief funds.
- We recommend monitoring for newly opened accounts showing large direct deposits from federal and state aid programs and verifying the legitimacy of these accounts.