The world is full of really horrible, lazy people looking to steal your money while putting in the least amount of effort. Take, for example, the scammers who are blasting out automated, pre-recorded robocalls that try to scare people into believing they have to pay up or lose their flood insurance.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says that people in Texas have reported receiving robocalls with false alerts that their flood insurance premiums are past due. The fraudulent call then tells the homeowner that they must make a payment immediately in order to keep their insurance from lapsing.

There are a number of problems with this, says FEMA. First, companies that sell flood insurance don’t blast out robocalls to homeowners who are behind on their premiums. Second, these companies would never demand immediate payment without prior warnings.

If a homeowner with flood insurance does miss payments, FEMA says the insurer will contact them in writing, not via automated phone calls. Additionally, policyholders get multiple warnings from their insurer — at 90, 60, and 30 days before a policy expires.

Regardless of whether you have this insurance or your account status, hang up on one of these robocalls. If you are concerned that your insurance might be at risk, contact your insurer directly.

In addition to hanging up on the robocall, it would really help if you took some additional steps to help the feds catch these scammers. If you receive a bogus flood insurance robocall, call the FEMA Disaster Fraud Hotline toll free at 1-866-720-5721. You should also report the robocall through the Federal Trade Commission’s online complaint portal.

Tracking down a robocall scammer is often a complex and drawn-out process; every bit of available information on these fraudsters helps in this hunt.

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