Report Fraud

To report insurance fraud: Online Fraud reporting 

To report senior fraud or financial exploitation:  Senior Financial Exploitation

To report online Business email compromise, romance scams, ransomware attacks, elder fraud, other online fraud or scams: Internet Crimes Complaint Center (IC3) 

To report online and telephone fraud, scams, and bad business practices: Federal Trade Commission

To report Identity Theft or suspicious call, letter, text, or email about an alleged problem with your Social Security number, account, or payments: Social Security Administration at oig.ssa.gov or by phone at 800-269-0271 to report the fraudulent activity and request a freeze be placed on your social security number. 

Contact the three major credit bureaus: 

Experian: 1-888-397-3742, www.experian.com 

Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289 www.transunion.com 

Equifax 1-800-525-6285 www.equifax.com 

With each credit bureau, request a fraud alert be placed on your account. By doing this, no new accounts will be opened in your name without you being contacted first.

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Contractor Fraud

Occasionally people will be approached by unscrupulous contractors who will offer to replace siding on their homes or do some kind of home repair work. They will require large deposits before the work begins. They may start the project, if they do much work at all, and then are not seen again. Victims have been left not only with an unrefunded deposit, but substandard work for which they need to hire another contractor to fix. 

Often, after storms, people will find unsolicited contractors at their door offering to assess for roof or siding damage. These contractors often travel state to state, chasing these storms, to drum up business. These contractors are often unlicensed to perform work in Minnesota and may even cause damage to your home to justify an insurance claim, in which they will pocket the money. 

Here are some tips and signs to help you avoid becoming a victim of contractor fraud: 

• Contractor / swindler contacts you unsolicited. 
• The swindler is not licensed to do any of the home improvements in the State of Minnesota. 
• The contractor frequently has a “record” (and not in a good way) with the State of Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. 
• They want cash up front, usually a very large percentage of the quoted price or the total cost. 
• The quoted price for the labor and materials is too low. 
• The workmanship is obviously shoddy. 
• They may demolish large sections of the victim’s home, leaving debris everywhere and not returning. This is done to coerce the victim into paying more money so the swindler will return and fix the home. 
• They will never be able to fix the home because they are unlicensed, unqualified to be licensed, or unable to obtain a building permit. 
• Often the swindler sounds like they know what they are talking about because they may have been employed by a construction company as an estimator or other work-related experience, however, they are not trained or licensed for trade work. 

File a complaint with the MN Department of Labor and Industry