Task Force Targets Fire-Related Fraud
The Ventura County district attorney’s office has joined a Southern California task force to investigate suspected scam artists trying to take advantage of victims of recent wildfires.
The task force will review complaints of fraudulent business practices, then refer cases to local agencies.
“If someone has a problem with a particular business, we want to know if there are any other people having problems with that business,” said Gregory W. Brose, who supervises the district attorney’s Consumer and Environmental Protection Division.
After other fires, Brose said, prosecutors have fielded complaints against unlicensed contractors doing shoddy work and scam artists who try to pass themselves off as mediators between fire victims and insurance companies.
The number for the multi-agency task force is (800) 897-6677.
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