By Laura Tichy
laura.tichy-smith@floridaweekly.com
When he received the email soon after Hurricane Ian hit, stating that he’d won a free power drill from a national hardware store chain, Kevin McKeever chuckled. The IT support professional is accustomed to receiving fraudulent emails claiming his anti-virus software is malfunctioning, but the timing of this new approach offering the free power tool seemed more than an ironic coincidence to the tech-savvy Lee County resident.
“It’s easy to determine an email address belongs to someone in Florida, and I can see where a homeowner might click on that offer right now,” Mr. McKeever said. “And then they’d ask for personal information — probably a credit card — just to finalize sending the ‘free’ drill.” 
It’s an unfortunate reality that unscrupulous operators to outright scammers appear after natural disasters to prey upon survivors at the moment that they can least afford another problem, but the fraudsters do so because that’s when the stress and exhaustion leaves people vulnerable. Scams phishing with the bait of emergency loan offers tend to circulate after natural disasters, according to Suncoast Credit Union, tempting survivors to enter their personal and financial information in an attempt to receive help with the unexpected bills or loss of work. But scammers don’t come only by email, social media, text message or phone call. They also show up in person, making them seem more sincere.
