Small Business Flood Relief Resources and Action Steps

Posted on by

As businesses rebuild what was lost and purchase new items after the floods, we urge businesses to engage trusted contacts to help consider the next steps and to help make informed decisions. Businesses with concerns can reach out to the Attorney General’s Consumer Assistance Program (CAP) for help. Vermont businesses are covered by our state’s consumer protection law and CAP is a helpful resource available to businesses. CAP’s Small Business Advocate can assist businesses with any questions relating to consumer purchases and consumer complaint mediation.

Small business flood relief: Resources and action steps. Document everything, apply for relief, beware of scams. ago.vermont.gov/cap

First and foremost, businesses must document everything. Take pictures and write down all actions you are taking. This step will be integral in applying for relief and insurance claims down the road.

Making Repairs to your Business:

Below are a few tips to follow before making changes to your business as you repair and rebuild what was damaged in the flood.

  1. Contact your insurance company as soon as possible and do not make any permanent changes to your business until you get approval from your insurance company.
  2. Beware of dubious contractors that may appear with promises to restore damages immediately in exchange for immediate payment. Never pay in full upfront for a commercial project. Make sure you have a contract. Before working with a contractor, always check the Attorney General’s Home Improvement Fraud Registry and residential contractor registration status with the Office of Professional Regulation in the Vermont Secretary of State’s office.
  3. Contact the Consumer Assistance Program by phone at (800) 649-2424 or by email at ago.smallbusiness@vermont.gov for questions relating to hiring a commercial contractor.

Legal Assistance:

Small businesses may also need the advice or services of an attorney. Below are legal resources available to small businesses during this time.

  • Vermont Bar Association (VBA) offers low-cost consultations. A lawyer will provide a 30-minute consultation for $25 to help answer questions.  You can reach the Lawyer Referral Service at (800) 639-7036 Monday-Friday 8am – 4pm. Please visit vtbar.org for updates.
  • Small Business Legal Assistance Project offers support and outreach on legal topics impacting diverse and disadvantaged businesses and business owners in Vermont.

Beware of Disaster Relief Scams:

The Consumer Assistance Program is warning Vermonters and small businesses to beware of disaster-relief scams and price gouging. Scammers may impersonate FEMA or the State of Vermont. To learn more about these scams, please review CAP’s Avoid Scams and Fraud During Flood Recovery blog post.

How to Contact the Small Business Advocate:

If you have any questions on the above related material, please contact Emily McDonnell, Small Business Advocate at ago.smallbusiness@vermont.gov or call CAP at (800) 649-2424.

Many Vermonters are going through a traumatic period. If you or someone you know is having a hard time with the emotional impact of this crisis, you can call or text the National Disaster Stress Hotline, (800) 985-5990, or 9-8-8. You are not alone.

Avoid Scams and Fraud During Flood Recovery

Posted on by

Vermonters have become all too familiar with the difficulties of disaster flooding. We know from experience that as we seek to recover, time is of the essence. We may bypass research gathering steps to respond as quickly as possible to the most pressing needs. When encountering urgent, unexpected, or unfamiliar consumer transactions, like agreements for repair, or disaster recovery, avoid scams and fraud by slowing down and taking steps to verify. Engage trusted contacts to help consider the next steps and to help you make informed consumer decisions.

As we recover: Avoid Scams. Phony charities, government (FEMA) relief, dubious contractors. Ago.vermont.gov/cap

You can further avoid scams and fraud by looking out for the following known disaster scams:

Government imposter relief scams may claim to be the Federal government or the State of Vermont or FEMA. FEMA scams manifest as fraudulent inspectors that request fees for service, or administrative personnel that call to “verify” your information but are phishing for your personal information. Such relief help scams may even claim they can speed up your FEMA relief application for a fee.

Avoid this scam:  Connect with FEMA directly online. Seek updates regarding whether emergency declarations have been made: https://www.fema.gov/disaster/declarations and follow updates from the Vermont Emergency Management.

Phony charities that solicit funds claiming to support recovery efforts. The Vermont way is to help our neighbors. We all want to help, whether it is through volunteering or donating money. Sadly, scammers use the same contact methods as legitimate charities (phone, online, mail).

Avoid this scam:  Please only give to valid charities that you have thoroughly researched and vetted. Use tools like the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance and Charity Navigator to research charities before you donate.

Dubious contractors may appear with promises to restore damages immediately in exchange for immediate payment. Such contractors urge you to act fast, may offer lower prices, and do not have credentials—though they might say they are “registered and insured,” these are unverified statements.

Avoid this scam: Vermonters must be extra critical about hiring home improvement contractors. Never pay in full upfront for a home improvement project. Make sure you have a contract. Reference our Home Repair How-To Checklist for more tips on finding and hiring home improvement contractors.

Please watch out for these scams and report them to the Consumer Assistance Program by phone at 800-649-2424 or online at ago.vermont.gov/cap

More: Visit the Federal Trade Commission on spotting and avoiding post-disaster scams: https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-avoid-scams-after-weather-emergencies-and-natural-disasters

Summer Scams

Posted on by

By Katharine Clark, SHECP Intern

With increased vacationing, sightseeing, and attending events, summer is a fun-filled time in Vermont. Have a safe and happy summer by avoiding scams that may seek to intercept your vacation rental search, sell you fake tickets, or purport to be extended family stranded while on vacation.  

When searching for a vacation rental or event tickets online, be sure to do extensive research before agreeing to complete a purchase. If a family member calls in need, always take steps to verify. 

Vacation Rentals 

When looking for a vacation rental—some listings may seem too good to be true. Scammers can create fake listings to rope interested renters into dangerous schemes. Learn how to catch and avoid rental scams so you can rent safely and protect your money. 

Spot the Signs: 

  • Too Good to Be True: If the price is significantly lower than other similar properties in the area, the listing likely isn’t real. 
  • Unprofessional Listing: If a listing has many typos or poor grammar, it was likely made by a scammer. Serious listings are seriously made, and they will be carefully constructed and proofread. 
  • Double Listings: If rentals appear multiple times across platforms, and especially on a single platform, it is likely that the duplicates are scams. Scammers will frequently copy a legitimate rental and add their own information. 
  • Unverified Address: Scammers can list properties that either don’t exist or are unavailable (E.g. foreclosed properties). Scammers can also take advantage of vacant properties, sometimes even agreeing to show the listing in person even when it is not actually available. 
  • Payment First: If you must pay and/or provide personal information before meeting the seller, seeing the property, or signing the rental agreement, it is likely that the seller is either withholding information or attempting to scam you.  
  • Untraceable Payment: Though there can be exceptions, be wary of listings that require untraceable/non-refundable payment such as cash, wire transfers, money transfer services (like Western Union or MoneyGram), or more suspiciously, gift cards or cryptocurrency, including crypto kiosks. Scammers can also go through legitimate services like Airbnb but request payment through another service or an escrow account. 
  • Faulty or Missing Agreement: Scammers can manipulate incomplete leases (filled with blank spaces or vague writing) without your knowledge or consent. Or they can simply take your money with no legal documentation if there is no lease at all. 

What to Do: 

  • Protect Your Information: Before viewing the rental, never give out your social security number, bank account, or debit or credit card information. 
  • Verify the Address and Price: Look up the property and verify that other results (either duplicate listings on different sites or more information about the property) show the same listing with the same seller information. You could also do a public records search with the town clerk to verify the property owner. If the results differ between listings, or if the property is not actually available for rent, it is a sign of a scam. 
  • Verify the Price: Check the prices for similar rentals near the listing to verify that the seller’s price is in line with expected costs. If it seems too good to be true, it is safe to assume that it is. 
  • Seller Reputation: Look at reviews of the seller online to find complaints from former tenants. If words like “scam” frequently appear, avoid the listing. 
  • See the Property and Meet the Seller: Try the view the property and meet the listing agent/landlord either on a video call or, ideally, in person. If the seller refuses, avoid the listing. 
  • Check the Rental Agreement: Try to have someone review your lease for completion and quality before signing, and if there is no written rental agreement, avoid the listing.  
  • Send Your Money Wisely: Whenever possible, insist on paying all fees, deposits, or rent through traceable and recorded forms of payment like a credit or debit card. Only pay after verifying where you’re sending your money. 
  • Websites to Look Out For: Be extra cautious when looking at listings on websites like Craigslist, Zillow, or Facebook Marketplace. These are sites that interested renters frequent and scammers know to target. When using designated vacation rental website like AirBnB and VRBO, look out for sellers requiring payment through external services. 
  • Go With Your Gut: If you don’t trust the listing or if something feels off, avoid it. 

Online Ticket Sales 

This summer, Vermont will be filled with fun, ticketed events that you and your loved ones will be eager to attend. Before buying your tickets, learn these steps to avoid being scammed by fraudulent ticket sellers and keep your summer plans safe from scams.  

Spot the Signs 

  • Prices are Too Good: If most other sellers are listing similar tickets for much higher prices, the ticket you’re considering buying is likely a scam. 
  • Untraceable Payment: Ticket scams will often require untraceable/non-refundable payment methods such as gift cards or wire transfers. Scammers can also pose as legitimate sellers on trusted sites like Ticketmaster but require off-site payment.  
  • Phishing: Emails, texts, and social media messages can be used to phish for personal information through ticket scams. If the email address has a strange or unfamiliar domain name, or hovering over an included URL looks suspicious, it is likely a phishing scam. Scammers might also use lookalike websites (E.g. slightly misspelling  as “Ticketsmarter.com” to appear as the known ticketmaster.com). 
  • Sold-Out Tickets: Though there can be exceptions, sold-out tickets are often used as scams, especially if the seller has very little information available and refuses to meet in person. 
  • Printed or Replicated Tickets: Scammers can print the same ticket multiple times or replicate a bar or QR code on a ticket being resold. If there is no secure digital form of the ticket, or if the seller included photos of the ticket with a visible barcode or QR code (even if crossed out), it is likely a scam. 
  • Fake Support Numbers: Scammers can create a website or ad with a fake customer support number for real ticketing services. These numbers may appear as the top results when searching for support from specific companies. Once called, these scammers will pretend to be agents with the company and ask for your personal information.  

What to Do 

  • Purchase your tickets directly from official sources like the box office (ex. Flynn Center) or a primary ticketer like Ticketmaster or StubHub (E.g. Vermont Lake Monsters Tickets) 
  • Whenever possible, use traceable forms of payment and pay directly to the ticketer. Avoid third-party payment or unconventional payment methods like peer-to-peer payment (PayPal, Venmo) gift cards or cryptocurrency/kiosks. 
  • Be cautious of ticket customer support numbers you find online. Fake numbers for well-known companies like Ticketmaster, are often used to scam customers seeking support online. 

Family Emergency While Vacationing 

With increased travel of family members during summer months, family imposters may strike. Scammers can pretend to be a relative in an emergency – in need of money immediately because they’ve been stranded, or in an accident while traveling. Know the signs so you and your real loved ones can stay safe from family emergency scams this season. 

Spot the Signs: 

  • Scammers call about a family member in an unlikely but dire situation such as a medical emergency or arrest and need money immediately. They often share specific details that could make the scam more convincing like names and school information. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has even warned about scammers using advanced technology such as voice cloning. 
  • They will often ask for money to be sent through untraceable/non-refundable methods such as gift cards. 
  • Common forms of this scam include the grandchild imposter, or “grandparent scam,” in which scammers claim to be one’s grandchild. 

What To Do: 

  • Stay up to date with the information your loved ones are sharing online. Personal information and pictures, especially when shared on public accounts on social media platforms, can be stolen and used by imposter scammers. 
  • Create a secret code to use among family members in cases of emergency.  
  • Keep trusted contacts of loved ones in an easy to locate place. 
  • Never send money parties you can’t verify 
  • If the scammer threatens to come to your house or you are told that someone will come to pick up the money, do not answer your door and call the police. 
  • Establish a family plan now, before contacted. Plan to go S-L-O-W: 

Slow down and calm down. Scammers will try to spike your emotional response with emergency situations requiring immediate reactions. Take your time to verify the legitimacy of the situation. 

Log the contact. Write down the information of whoever contacted you and disengage. 

One call. Call either the number you know to be the person the scammer is impersonating or call a trusted contact. A trusted contact should be someone you can meet/have met in person. 

Warn others: Help others to identify scams by reporting them.  

If you notice a scam, disengage and report. Report scam encounters to FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. If you sent money, contact the financial institution right away. The Consumer Assistance Program at the Vermont Attorney General’s Office is your Vermont resource for scam prevention and information.  

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day: Help in Your Community

Posted on by

By Crystal Baldwin

As we prepare for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day this Saturday, please read and share: “Finding Help,” a guide on help options for Vermonters experiencing elder abuse, exploitation and neglect. 

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day: Building Strong Support for Elders - National Center on Elder Abuse - My Community, your community - free of elder abuse
National Center on Elder Abuse – World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

When considering care for our loved ones, there is a lot to think about . Who should help manage their money? Should someone live with them, and who? Can we afford to hire an in-home caregiver? Should we seek out assisted living care, or think about an adult day option? Once everything is finally sorted out, we can exhale. But should we? As our parents checked in on our wellbeing as children, once our elders are set and settled, we must continue to check in on them, too, with great care and concern for their wellbeing. 

On this World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, we must be vigilant and aware of the risk factors and signs of elder abuse. We must serve as supportive connections to older adults in our communities to prevent their social isolation—one of the main elder abuse risk factors (ncea.acl.gov). As someone who has cared for a vulnerable elder, I know firsthand that it can be difficult to know where to turn for help, advice, and guidance.   

Finding Help: Abuse, Exploitation & Neglect in Later Life - link to guide
Finding Help – A resource guide produced by the VT Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living

Last fall, the Vermont Attorney General’s Elder Protection Initiative and the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living launched the Finding Help: Abuse, Exploitation and Neglect in Later Life help guide, a resource for Vermont’s most vulnerable and those who care for them. The guide walks through how to recognize abuse and exploitation, help options outside of government, as well as how to report elder abuse or exploitation to government for response. This resource outlines free services provided by an array of organizations and state agencies, including: 

  • Elder abuse hotlines and helplines 
  • Case managers and social workers 
  • Domestic & sexual violence organizations 
  • Legal services; and 
  • Other community-based organizations and professionals 

You can help prevent elder abuse and exploitation. I encourage you to share and save a copy of this guide and keep it among your most referenced resources. Also, consider printing out the following abbreviated resource guide and share it with the elders in your life.  It includes some of the primary referral resource hotlines and can be kept handy close to the phone for easy reference.   

Resources for VTer's 60+ Vermont 2-1-1 VT Area Agencies on Aging 1-800-642-5119 VT Adult Protective Svcs 1-800-564-1612 VT Office of the Public Guardian 1-800-642-3100 UVMMC Case Mgmt and Social Work Team 1-802-847-3553 SASH 1-802-863-2224 Blueprint for Health - contact a Primary Care Physician. National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-372-8311
Resources for Vermonters 60+. Print and share.

Resources: 
NCEA: https://ncea.acl.gov/
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day: https://worldelderabuseawareness.com/about-weaad/

Social Media Scams Hope to Elicit Funds from Grieving Families

Posted on by

Scammers are targeting grieving families, posting links to fake funeral live streams on Facebook and asking for payment to access the service. Scammers may further make fake social media pages of loved ones to post the fake funeral livestream link.

The livestream option for funeral services is typically free to guests. If you are asked to provide payment, disengage and contact the organizer directly, such as the funeral home or the person who arranged the funeral services.

The array of scams that can occur on social media is virtually limitless. There are:

  • Opportunities to grow your wealth through investment schemes,
  • The chance to earn money through low-risk involvement, such being paid to have your portrait drawn,
  • Advertisements that lead to purchasing items and services that do not exist,
  • The development of false relationships

The scammers will stop at nothing.

Here are some things you can do to avoid fraud online:

  • Limit your social media connections to people you actually know and have met in person.
  • Know that accounts can be hacked so the “friend” contacting you could be a scammer.
  • Turn on restrictive privacy settings that allow only those close contacts access to your pages and posts.
  • Upon receiving an appealing offer take steps to verify and engage a trusted contact to scrutinize the offer.

If you have paid in response to one of these scams, contact your financial institution right away and alert about the fraud. Learn more recovery steps on our website: https://ago.vermont.gov/cap/recover-scams 

Please help stop scams by sharing this information with someone you know.

The Consumer Assistance Program (CAP) is your Vermont resource for consumer help and scam prevention information. Contact CAP at 1-800-649-2424 or https://ago.vermont.gov/cap.