A s the South endures the effects of hurricane Florence (now a tropical storm), warnings already are being issued about another storm that's expected to follow, this one entirely man-made: Consumer fraud. Even as Florence was approaching the mainland, alerts sent out about post-storm scams, including this warning from the Better Business Bureau. There are at least three types of disaster-related fraud you should know about, even if you don't live in an area directly affected by the storm: Charity and home contractor scams and the sale of flood and other storm-damaged cars to unsuspecting motorists. Here's how these types of fraud work and what you can do to avoid them. Charity scams During my more than 30 years as a consumer and finance journalist, I've seen many examples of scammers trying to take advantage of the generosity of people who want to help those affected by hurricanes and other disasters. The fraud could be perpetrated using a website for ...