Hurricane season started June 1. For most Floridians, that means stocking up on water, checking insurance policies and making sure the generator works. For scammers, it means opportunity.
Florida is the fraud capital of the United States. The Federal Trade Commission gave us that designation in 2024, and Floridians lost over $866 million that year alone to fraudulent behavior. Seniors bore a disproportionate share: nearly 30% of total losses statewide, often with consequences beyond financial setbacks, fall on our seniors. Victims lose independence, generational wealth and trust in others.
Now add a major hurricane on top of that.
According to U.S. Census data, more than half of the 700,000 Florida residents affected by natural disasters were targeted by scams in the month following the event. When a storm passes through, fraudsters don’t wait for the debris to clear. They follow it.
Within hours, unlicensed contractors are knocking on doors in hard-hit neighborhoods, offering deals that sound reasonable to someone who just watched a storm destroy their home. They take deposits, and then they disappear.
After Hurricane Ian in 2022, the Florida Attorney General’s office received hundreds of complaints about contractor fraud in Lee, Charlotte and Sarasota counties alone. The same pattern followed Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton in 2024.
But unlicensed contractors are only part of the problem. Scammers also pose as FEMA inspectors. They create fake charities that spring up within hours after a storm makes landfall. They steal the personal information of disaster victims to file fraudulent assistance claims, sometimes before real homeowners even have a chance to apply. Someone who has just lost their home or their car or a week’s wages shouldn’t also have to fight identity theft.
This is why the Florida Bankers Association and the Florida Attorney General’s Office have joined forces on a public fraud awareness campaign. Together, we have launched a sustained effort to ensure Floridians have the information they need to protect themselves before and after a disaster. Florida banks often are the last line of defense. Our bankers stop fraudulent transfers, flag suspicious transactions and call customers when something doesn’t look right. But they can’t catch everything, and they can’t catch it alone.
How can Floridians protect themselves? With hurricane season in full swing, here are a few things worth knowing:
• A legitimate contractor will provide a Florida license number. You can verify it at myfloridalicense.com. Anyone who pressures you to sign the day of, demands full payment up front or offers to waive your insurance deductible is breaking the law. Florida statute prohibits contractors from collecting more than 10% of a contract value as an initial deposit.
• FEMA officials do not charge for inspections. Anyone who asks for your banking information at the door is not from FEMA. If you receive a FEMA letter for an application you never filed, your information may have been stolen. Call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362.
If something feels wrong, trust your instincts. Report it to the Florida Attorney General’s office at MyFloridaLegal.com or by calling 1-866-9NO-SCAM. For fraud involving disaster assistance, the FEMA Disaster Fraud Hotline is available 24 hours a day at 866-720-5721.
Fraudsters target people at their most vulnerable moments. After a hurricane, that’s exactly where Floridians find themselves.
But Florida’s banks, law enforcement and the attorney general’s office are in this fight, and together we’re committed to ensuring every Floridian is protected.
Kathy Kraninger is president and CEO of the Florida Bankers Association.