LOS ANGELES — Judy Zweig misplaced nearly every part within the Palisades fireplace: her youngsters’s child pictures, her marriage ceremony album and all her costly jewellery locked in a protected.
The 66-year-old dental hygienist deliberate on spending her retirement years in her Pacific Palisades residence, however as an alternative she and her husband might be dipping into their financial savings to rebuild from the bottom up.
“We were so close to having financial freedom and the hope of having a life with so much less stress, and this not only robbed us of our past and our history, but it’s robbing us of the future that we’d dreamed of,” she stated. “I’ve never done a ground-up construction project in my life, and I’ll be starting this at [nearly] 70 years old. This isn’t what I wanted to do with my life.”
On Jan. 20, Zweig’s husband, Stefan, had the time off from work and headed to the previous Westside Pavillion, which is now serving as a Federal Emergency Administration Company catastrophe restoration heart. He sat down with a FEMA officer, who requested him for his Social Safety quantity, beginning date and deal with.
“It just felt like a gut punch,” Stefan Zweig stated. “It was so frustrating, and it was one more hoop to have to jump through to get any kind of help.”
Judy Zweig stated they filed a declare with FEMA stating that they have been victims of identification theft and fraud; their daughter, who works as a lawyer, helped them fill out the paperwork and referred them to the Federal Commerce Fee and the Division of Justice. The following day, Judy Zweig took a time off work and headed to the catastrophe aid heart. When she tried to file one other registration for help, she was instructed by the FEMA officer that her deal with was “locked up” and that her household must wait till their case was resolved.
“The FEMA officer who was trying to do my intake said he had seen five cases of fraud,” Judy Zweig stated. “This is a rampant problem that FEMA has, and part of it is because you’re allowed to sign up online, and people who want to commit fraud are getting benefits that people like us so desperately need.”
Though statistics on FEMA-specific fraud instances have been unavailable, company spokesperson Brandi Richard Thompson stated it’s not unusual for stolen-identity instances and fraud to happen after a pure catastrophe. She didn’t have data on whether or not there had been a rise in fraud instances with the Los Angeles County wildfires in contrast with different disasters.
Specialists say identification thieves should buy illegally obtained private data, together with Social Safety numbers, and apply for FEMA funds on-line.
“It’s not uncommon for it to happen after a disaster,” Thompson stated, “but I wouldn’t say that it’s happening with every registration.”
Almost 24 million folks have been victims of identification theft in 2021, in keeping with the Bureau of Justice Statistics. As of Wednesday, there have been greater than 121,000 FEMA registrations in reference to the wildfires, Thompson stated.
As soon as somebody is conscious that there’s already an software on file for his or her deal with, as a result of fraud or every other purpose, it’s vital for that individual to succeed in out to FEMA instantly, both by cellphone or at one in every of its catastrophe restoration facilities, so the company can work on resolving their case, Thompson stated. They need to convey identification data to the middle or add that data to their on-line portal.
As soon as that data is submitted, FEMA has 30 days to overview the case and get again to the person with an replace, she stated.
There are two main FEMA grant packages accessible for wildfire victims — one is for as much as $43,600 in housing help, which incorporates residence restore, substitute, rental help and lodging bills. There’s one other for as much as $43,600 that features help for private property, medical and dental bills in addition to funeral prices and transportation.
The deadline is March 10 for registration for help from each FEMA and the Small Enterprise Administration, which offers help for owners, renters, nonprofits and companies.
Thompson stated the company is making an attempt to strengthen its fraud detection and prevention efforts via “identity verification, data analytics, and partnerships with federal, state and local authorities.” FEMA additionally works with regulation enforcement to analyze claims of fraud.
Though fraud and identification theft have been longtime issues, it’s change into widespread throughout the web age, stated Ruben Davila, a USC professor and legal professional who has expertise in litigating instances of fraudulent monetary reporting. Fraudsters can simply purchase another person’s private data, together with Social Safety numbers, addresses and beginning dates, and apply for FEMA funds on-line with out having to indicate any bodily identification in individual.
Davila stated it’s been a problem, particularly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, for presidency entities to determine how one can distribute massive quantities of cash to the proper folks in a well timed method.
“There have been enough failures that people are emboldened to go ahead and try to commit fraud. If you try and don’t succeed, you’re probably not going to get caught,” he stated. “They’d have to identify who fraudulently got the money, track and prosecute it, and the way the federal government works is that it’s almost not worth the time or hassle to go after small amounts of money.”
“It’s going to delay a rightful homeowner relief that they desperately need, and you’re piling a tragedy on top of another tragedy,” he stated. “People think because they’re stealing from the government that they aren’t hurting anybody. They are hurting people at a time when people are already hurting.”
Judy Zweig is worried that her household received’t qualify for sure providers and donations in time as a result of their case nonetheless hasn’t been resolved. On the catastrophe aid heart, for instance, there are tables arrange by the DMV, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. Zweig wasn’t in a position to apply for any of these providers as a result of they require a sound FEMA quantity.
On Tuesday, her husband obtained a cellphone name from somebody who recognized themselves as a FEMA officer and requested for his checking account data to additional confirm his identification.
“We hope it was legitimately FEMA on the phone,” she stated. “We’re still not 100% sure. It’s just been a gut punch after gut punch.”
Judy Zweig continues to be grappling with the lingering guilt she feels after she didn’t save extra of her household’s cherished possessions within the fireplace. Her household has discovered an house to lease and spent about $15,000 on furnishings and different necessities. Subsequent, they’ll have to succeed in out to architects and contractors to begin the method of rebuilding their residence, which she had lived in for 30 years.
On the day of the hearth, Judy Zweig ran round her home, grabbing toiletries and a change of garments for herself and her husband. She saved pondering that she’d be again the following day. She didn’t suppose she wanted to take her youngsters’s bat mitzvah album or any household pictures.
“There was this collective sense of denial that it wouldn’t come to my neighborhood,” she stated. “My kids are grieving so deeply for everything that they lost in this fire, and I feel so guilty that I’m the one who had the power to alleviate a little bit of that pain, and I didn’t. And that’s a guilt I’m going to carry with me forever.”