Disasters are often followed by fraud schemes as people falsely claim to be victims in order to benefit financially. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has uncovered several dozen fraud schemes involving false claims for property damage due to Hurricane Katrina. More than 600 people have been charged in federal cases in 22 states and the District of Columbia for using false names, social security numbers and addresses of damaged residences. The GAO has referred more than 22,000 potential cases to the Katrina task force. The types of fraud found include extortion, bank larceny, overbilling, public corruption and identity theft (including the use of social security numbers of deceased persons) and range in value from a few thousand dollars to more than $700,000.
Source:
http://news.findlaw.com/ap/o/51/04-02-2007/95bd00af8da9056d.html
