A family lost everything in the Palisades fire. This time, the scammers filed a claim with FEMA against their property after stealing their identities.
Stefan and Judy Zweig lost their Pacific Palisades home to a fire and are now getting back on their feet. It’s where they raised their children and where they wanted to spend the rest of their lives.
“It was perfect for us, it was perfect,” Stefan said.
In the midst of their loss, Stefan, a doctor and University of Southern California professor, went to apply for disaster relief this week and received the disturbing news that his identity had been stolen. The person or group behind the theft has already applied for disaster relief in their name.
“The guy actually said to me, ‘There were five fraud cases yesterday,'” Judy said. “And if one agent has five cases a day, that means this is a problem that FEMA needs to address.”
The Zweig family cannot receive assistance from authorities until the fraud investigation is complete.
NBC4 reached out to FEMA regarding the fraud incident. The group did not respond to requests for comment.
Source link
