The Lowest of the Low - Power Bill Scammers After the Tornadoes

On June 16 (last Friday) 2 tornadoes touched down in Bellevue, Nebraska, a suburb of Omaha.  There were 100 mile/hour winds all over the metro area and lots of damage.  Omaha Public Power Department provides electricity to the area.  As of this evening (Thursday
June 22) 127 customers still do not have power.

The Omaha CBS TV station reports that as the power is being restored the power bill scammers are attacking the area.  Its the same scams we've seen before.  The scammer says you owe $$$$ for an overdue bill or for restoring your service or for any other lie they can think of.  Or they need your banking information or social security number or other information they can use to spend all of your money.

Many of the people who have been called have spent the last 5 days on the phone to insurance companies and tree removal services and construction firms.  They lost, at a minimum, everything in their refrigerators and freezers.  Many suffered massive damage to their homes, including a few that have to be rebuilt from scratch.  They've lost photographs and other mementos that can't be replaced.  The lost cars.  The victims include farmers who have lost grain silos and barns and expensive farm machinery and farm animals.  And the low life scammers think these people are so overwhelmed they are vulnerable to a scam.

http://www.3newsnow.com/news/local-news/scam- ... -recent-outages.

Your disgust with the affair is entirely justified. It sounds like the same goons have had practice at this scheme.

I've been musing on the most fitting catch phrase. I first considered "Disaster Capitalist", but that's Halliburton's gig per reporter Antony Loewenstein. "Power Profiteer" is much closer except for the fact that the genuine power provider is not involved. So I'm trying on "Crisis Extortionist" for size. I'm also asking Admin to move this thread to "Phishing/Scam".

Quote:

I've been musing on the most fitting catch phrase

How about "Power Victimizer" or "Victim Victimizer" ?
It is a shame that there are people who would try to victimize a victim of such a disaster.

The Power Victimizer .... Didn't I see one of those in a direct response TV ad around 03:30 last night? I'd like something with a large enough umbrella for future variations, like threat calls spoofing the water authority during a drought, or someone posing as FEMA and charging a "trailer reservation fee" to flood refugees. (Maybe I should stop giving the criminals hot ideas.)

We could lend "Victim Victimizer" to those double-dippers in the payday loan racket who find people underwater from multiple unpaid loans and offer a "rescue", which may take the form of advance fee fraud, a bogus "consolidation", and/or yet more wallet-crushing loans.

Ah, I see what you mean now and only one thing popped in my head that seems to fit......Disaster Vultures!
Just add the disaster type in front , such as "The Cindy Disaster Vultures were circling victims, descending on what is left of their wallets ......" or "Phony FEMA Disaster Vultures were picking through the victims......."

Using Advanced Fortune Cookie Technology (AFCT), simply add "In Bed" to the headline.  Example:
"Phony FEMA Disaster Vultures were picking through the victims in bed"

That storm hit at night, so it is probable that most of the storm's victims were in bed when the storm hit.

"Crisis Extortionist".  I like it.

Over the last few years there are more and more of the scams that are based on phony Go Fund Me type posts.  There are just the flat out liars who fake horrors or disease, AND the leeches who set-up Go Fund Me pages for total strangers, with no intention of letting money go to victims or families.

Disaster Vultures - I like that term.  Victimizing the Victims also fits and includes predatory refinancing.

ETA - last night's Omaha storms must not have been as minor as I thought they were.  OPPD reports 67 customers without power.