An urgent warning has been issued after scammers allegedly tried to collect donations while pretending to be from the SES in the wake of the NSW floods.
The Taree branch, 330km north of Sydney, took to Facebook to warn the community about scammers operating in their area.
‘If you are contacted by anyone asking for donations on behalf of the NSW SES, this is a SCAM,’ an outraged branch member wrote.
Taree volunteer SES members busy filling sandbags on March 19 to help their community weather the floods. Outraged members warned of scammers were pretending to fundraise
The Taree volunteer branch of SES (pictured) warned the community not to give money to anyone saying they are from the NSW SES. They urged the public to call police instead
‘If someone knocks on your door asking for donations on behalf of the NSW SES, this is also a SCAM and should be reported immediately to the police.’
The NSW SES does not ask for donations or door-knock to raise money.
‘It is unbelievable that people are so heartless to take advantage of the local communities good will during such trying times,’ the post continued.
‘They should ashamed of themselves.’
More than one scammer may be at work with residents reporting phone calls
One woman (pictured) allegedly tried to scam money while wearing a volunteer uniform. She was not a member of any SES unit – and the SES does not ask for any donations
More than 1,000 flood rescues were needed during NSW floods over the past two weeks. Pictured: NSW SES volunteers ferry locals over a flooded road at Rosebrook on Thursday
The NSW SES and NSW Police instead directed people to Givit.org.au, the NSW Government donation channel that targets gifts so people get what they need and unwanted donated goods do not hinder the recovery.
NSW Police urged the community to be on high alert for fraudsters.
‘NSW Police urges the community to be aware and report any fraudulent activity collecting donations in relation to the NSW floods,’ a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Friday.
Scam artists have sometimes been able to obtain SES uniforms as members come and go from the volunteer organisation, so the public has been warned to be on their guard.
Angry Taree locals who spoke to 7News said one woman, a serial scammer, had tried to take advantage of their goodwill in every natural disaster, and they had set up a Facebook group dedicated to tracking her movements.
During the 2017 Cyclone Debbie clean up, the woman allegedly posted photographs of herself in the distinctive orange volunteer uniform, even though she was not a member.
They also said she tried to steal a horse during the Black Summer bushfires by telling a man that it was her horse that had escaped and trying to get his help to ‘retrieve’ it.
Taree SES unit members organising to help the community on March 21
Pictured: SES volunteers load food and essentials to a rescue helicopter for residents in areas cut off by floodwaters north-west of Sydney on Wednesday
She has also allegedly made fake fundraiser pages for bushfire victims, never handing over the money.
NSW Police said they were not aware of anybody posing as emergency service workers seeking donations in the Manning/Great Lakes police district.
More than one scammer may be at work this time with locals taking to social media to report telephone calls falsely soliciting money for the NSW SES.
One woman described the phone calls, saying a few people were rung during the height of the NSW floods last Saturday.
‘It starts off as though they are you (SES) and updating us on the situation then they ask for a donation,’ she wrote on Facebook.
On Friday, the SES hoped to rescind the last of the 23 evacuation orders as floodwaters began to recede across NSW, and the organisation began to assess the flood damage.
By Friday evening, however, there were still just under 9,000 people still under evacuation orders, the Guardian reported.
A further 76,000 people were able to return to their homes after evacuation warnings were lifted.
There were 12,500 requests for help across the state and 1,000 flood rescues during the wild week of torrential rain, with the SES called to another 35 flood rescues on Thursday night.
So far more than 1300 properties have been assessed with water rising over the floorboards in more than 250 homes.
At least 75 houses are now uninhabitable according to SES standards.
The NSW SES began assessing the flood damage on Friday as flood waters recede. Pictured: volunteers in Windsor, west of Sydney, on March 21
SES Volunteers at Port Macquarie make food packs on Friday for flood-affected areas