Be Careful When
• Insurance agents reaching out unexpectedly to you and providing too good to be true options
• Contractors calling to give you a ‘deal’ on fire clean up
• Charities reaching out to you requesting monetary donations in support of the Fire Department, Law Enforcement, or Victims
• Fundraisers or “GoFundMe” pages that are not endorsed by the people or organizations they are supposed to help.
Woman on telephone
What to Do Instead
• Don’t answer calls from unknown phone numbers
• Hang up the phone if you believe the call to be a scam
• Do not “click” or “tap” on email or text message links if you do not know the sender
• Contact your insurance provider directly through their legitimate contact information
• Take the needed time to properly research and vet a contractor before doing business with them
• Do not give gift card numbers or financial account information to ‘Charities’ over the phone, instead visit
https://www.coloradogives.org/%20bouldercountywildfirefun d?step=step1 if you want to donate towards the Marshall Fire.
Use Caution If Someone
• Tells you there is a fee to access FEMA or disaster assistance services
• Tells you that the fee will get you to the front of the disaster assistance list
• Asks for payment in the form of gift cards, bitcoin, wire transfer, or access to your financial accounts
• Tells you they are a licenses and bonded contractor without providing proof
What to Know
• Scammers thrive in situations when people are stressed and take advantage of these situations
• Know that government disaster assistance agencies do not ask for financial account information
• There is NO FEE required to apply for or get disaster assistance from FEMA or the Disaster Assistance Center
• Scammers will often “spoof ” local phone numbers. Spoofing is when a scammer uses a local number or a number from an actual agency to appear like a legitimate caller.
To Report a Scam
• Contact the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov to report fraud or by contacting the Community Protection Division
at 303-441-3700
If You Are a Victim of a Scam
• If the scam occurred through the internet, report the fraud at https://www.ic3.gov/
• For all other scams, report them with the Federal Trade Commission at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/
• Contact your local law enforcement agency and let them know you are a victim of a scam
• Contact the Community Protection Division to learn how to protect yourself against future scams and frauds. DA’s Community Protection questions 303-441-3700.
For Disaster Recovery, please visit https://www.bouldercounty.org/disasters/wildfires/marshall/
Courtesy of Marshall Fire Scams Community Protection Division, Boulder County District Attorney’s Office, Michael Dougherty, District Attorney