Judy Zweig lost almost everything about the Pallisard Fire: her baby photos, her wedding album, and her expensive jewels are trapped in a safe.
The 66-year-old dental hygienist had planned to spend his retirement years at the Pacific Palisade home, but instead she and her husband get into savings and rebuild from scratch.
“We were very close to having hopes of living a life that was less economic freedom and stressful. This not only took us away from our past and history, but we also did not. It’s taking us away from the future we had dreamed of,” she said. “I have never done a zero-up construction project in my life, and I will start this [nearly] 70 years old. This is not something I wanted to do in my life. ”
On January 20th, Zweig’s husband Stephen took a break from work and headed to the former West Side Pavilion. He sat down with an FEMA officer, but he asked for his Social Security number, date of birth and address.
The officer then informed him that someone had already used their information to fill out their registration, but had placed a different phone number and email address.
“It just felt like a punch in the gut,” Judy Zweig said. “It was so frustrating and another hoop that I had to jump over to get help of all sorts.”
Judy Zweig said they filed a claim with FEMA, which they described as victims of identity theft and fraud. Their daughter, who works as lawyers, helped them fill out the papers and introduced them to the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice. The next day, Judy Zvaig took a break from work and headed to the Disaster Relief Center. When she tried to file another registration for assistance, she said that her address was “confined” and that her family would have to wait for their lawsuit to be resolved. I was told by.
“The FEMA officer who was trying to take my ingestion said he saw five instances of fraud,” Judy Zweig said. “This is a ramp-prolonged issue that FEMA has, some of which are allowed to sign up online and people who want to commit fraud are desperately needed by people like us. Because they are making the profits that can be done.”
Although statistics on FEMA-specific fraud cases were not available, agency spokesman Brandi Richard Thompson said it is not uncommon for stolen identity cases and fraud to take place after a natural disaster. . She had no information on whether the Los Angeles County wildfires had increased fraud cases compared to other disasters.
Experts say that identity thieves can purchase illegally acquired personal information, including their Social Security Number, and apply to the FEMA fund online.
Judy Zweig has a Dutch kisser who was saved from his home destroyed by the Pacific Pallisard fire.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
“It’s not uncommon to happen after a disaster,” Thompson said. “But I’m not saying that’s happening with every registration.”
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, nearly 24 million people were victims of identity theft in 2021. As of Wednesday, there were over 121,000 FEMA registrations in connection with the wildfire, Thompson said.
If you notice that an address application is already in the file due to fraud or other reasons, it is important that the person reach out directly to FEMA either by phone or by the disaster recovery center. Thompson said they could work on solving their cases. You will need to bring your identification information to the centre or upload that information to the online portal.
Once that information is submitted, FEMA will review the case and take 30 days to return to the individual with the update, she said.
There are two major FEMA grant programs available to Wildfire victims. One is housing assistance up to $43,600, including home repairs, replacements, rental assistance and accommodation costs. There are other items up to $43,600, including personal property, medical costs, dental costs, funeral costs and transportation assistance.
The deadline is March 10 for registration to assist FEMA and Small Business Management, providing support to homeowners, renters, nonprofits and businesses.
Thompson said it is seeking to step up fraud detection and prevention efforts through “identity verification, data analysis, and partnerships with federal, state and local authorities.” FEMA will also work with law enforcement to investigate fraud claims.
Fraud and identity theft have been a long-standing problem, but have become common in the internet age, USC professor and lawyer Reuben Davila has experience in fraudulent financial reporting litigation cases. I said. Scammers can easily purchase other people’s personal information, such as Social Security Number, Address, and Date of Birth, and apply for FEMA Funds online without directly showing their physical identification.
Davila said it is a challenge for government agencies to understand how to distribute large amounts of money to the right people in the right way, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Stefan and Judy Zweig peer into the tile ble at their Pacific Palisade home on Sunday.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
“There have been enough failures that encourage people to go ahead and commit fraud. If they don’t succeed, they probably won’t get caught,” he said. “They need to identify who got the money fraudulently, tracked it down and charged. The way the federal government works is that it’s not worth the time or hassle to drive out small amounts of money. ”
The victims of the lost wildfire no longer have a physical mailing address to receive mail or important documents, Davila said. As in Zweigs, scammers can easily steal personal information, apply it first with FEMA and place their own email address. After that, when a real homeowner tries to apply for assistance, they must go through more hurdles to try to prove that their identity has been stolen.
“It will delay the relief of the legitimate homeowners they desperately need, and you are stacked with tragedy above another tragedy,” he said. “Because people are stealing from the government that they’re not hurting anyone. They’re hurting people when they’re already hurting.”
Judy Zweig is concerned that her family is not eligible for certain services or donations as she has not yet resolved. The Disaster Relief Center, for example, has tables set up by DMV, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and LA County supervisor Lindsey Horvas. Zweig was unable to apply for any of these services as it required a valid FEMA number.
On Tuesday, her husband received a call from someone who identified herself as a FEMA officer and sought his bank account information to further verify his identity.
“We hope it was just FEMA on the phone,” she said. “We’re not 100% sure yet. It was a gut punch after the gut punch.”
Judy Zweig, who has taken root in the tiled bleach of her house, was unable to receive assistance as her husband’s identity was stolen.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Judy Zweig is still tackling the lingering guilt she feels after she fails to save her precious family possessions in the fire. Her family found an apartment to rent and spent about $15,000 on furniture and other essentials. They then need to reach out to the architects and contractors and begin the process of rebuilding the home she had lived in for 30 years.
On Tuesday, Judy Zvaig ran around her house, exchanging toiletries and clothes for herself and her husband. She kept thinking she would come back the next day. She didn’t think she needed to take an album of Mitsuba’s children’s bat or a photo of her family.
“There was this collective denial of not coming to my neighborhood,” she said. “My kids are very deeply saddened for everything they lost in this fire. I feel so guilty that I have the power to reduce that pain a little. But I didn’t. And that’s the guilt I’m going to carry with me forever.”
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