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Scammers leveraging recent South Island floods to deceive public into giving money Newshub 13 hrs ago
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Scammers pretending to be staff from Buller s Emergency Operations Centre are trying to deceive the public into giving them money.
Last weekend, some West Coast homes were evacuated and a state of emergency was declared in Buller as rising floodwaters threatened towns.
In the wake of the severe weather, the Buller Mayoral Relief Fund was opened for the public to donate to and help out communities. The Government has already contributed $300,000 to it.
But scammers are using this fund to target the public in a bid to swindle cash from New Zealanders.
Westport Floods photographed by Anita O Brien
Photo: supplied
Buller Emergency Operations Centre public information manager Lisa Glass said the final number of red-stickered homes was still being confirmed, but she expected it to be more than 100.
Glass said about 400 homes had been yellow-stickered, meaning they could be habitable once repairs were done and they were cleaned up.
The handful of people who have been staying in the last remaining emergency accommodation, set up at South School, are expected to be re-homed today. The civil defence welfare team have been helping out these people one at a time to make sure they will be safe and settled, Glass said.