It’s hurricane season, which means it’s also contractor scam season.

As soon as Hurricane Helene departed Florida, the scammers moved in.

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office recently arrested a man for a scheme you definitely don’t want to get caught up in.

Here’s how it works: The contractor, a 28-year-old named Nelson, is accused of charging $4,746 on a business account at a Sherwin Williams store in Charlotte County.

Nelson then turned around and resold the paint at a discount to other contractors.

Not that smart of a scam, right? It sounds like he’s losing money by buying high and selling low.

But there’s a trick: It takes a few days to discover credit fraud, and by the time the store figures it out, the crooked contractors have scooped up the free product and fled the area.

This isn’t Nelson’s first time, either. Allegedly, he tried the same scam in Lee County, but the store caught on and refused to fulfill the large order.

Sadly, Nelson is not alone. In the wake of hurricanes, scam contractors tend to flood the zone. There’s tons of customers desperate for help, a lack of respectable contractors to fill the void, and the chaos of hurricane clean-up that makes it easier to sneak out like a thief in the night.

Now, with the quickly swelling Hurricane Milton taking aim at Florida, it’s inevitable that more swindlers will move in to try their hand at the stolen credit card racket.

If you are a contractor in Florida – or California, or North Carolina, or anywhere that natural disasters frequently hit – you need to be aware of what’s going on.

You definitely don’t want to buy the pilfered paint from these crooks. It’s receiving stolen property and good luck finding them if it goes south.

You’re also up against their rotten reputation when you want to get the contract to help those who are devastated. They have to be wary of scams, and until you prove otherwise, they’ll suspect you’re just another fraud there to rip them off.

The only way to combat this skullduggery is by killing it with kindness. Set the example, be an upstanding contractor who goes the extra mile, reassure the customer that you’re there for them in this time of need, and then do exactly that.

As for the riff-raff, they’ll slink away until the next hurricane. Let’s hope the long arm of the law catches up to them before then.