FOX Undercover: Avoiding Storm Scams

(FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - Hurricane Sandy may blow in scam artists who see the storm as a golden opportunity to rip people off.

It's an ugly side to any natural disaster, but it's worth talking  about because it's something that's happened before.

In the past, we've heard about everything from people pretending to collect money for storm victims to workers offering services, but not delivering on them.

FOX Undercover's Mike Beaudet spoke with Barbara Anthony, the undersecretary for the state's Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. She says when natural disasters strike, the scam artists come out, but there are things you can do to prevent yourself from becoming a victim.

According to Anthony, the best way to find legitimate people to help you with storm clean up is to ask friends and neighbors for people they've used.

Anthony says you should also look out for price gouging, where businesses jack up their prices to take advantage of people during and after the storm.  It's against the law to charge unfair prices.

FOX Undercover is on the lookout for scams during and after Hurricane Sandy. If you know about someone ripping people off, call us at 1-800 TV-FOX25.

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