New York officials are warning Holocaust victims and their families of a potential fraud.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie Rubinstein, the son of Holocaust survivors, received a letter offering to help him file claims for everything from slave labor to looted assets and unpaid insurance policies seized by Nazis.<\/p>\n
“It looked awfully convincing,” Rubinstein said. “There was information about this money comes from the German government.” \u00a0<\/p>\n
Gov. Kathy Hochul said letters like these are a fraud. She said the state cannot verify the legitimacy of the sender listed as “Jewish Holocaust Claims Center” or “JHCC.”<\/p>\n
Its website, deemed fraudulent by the state, has been taken down.<\/p>\n
“This is the lowest of the low,” said Masha Pearl, executive director of The Blue Card, which assists many of the 31,000 Holocaust survivors in the United States.<\/p>\n
The median age of survivors is 87, according to the Claims Conference.<\/p>\n
“These survivors are living on very small incomes and savings. This can really wipe out everything,” Pearl said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For decades, survivors and their heirs have been working to recover assets taken during Nazi persecution, including bank accounts, unpaid insurance proceeds and looted art.\u00a0<\/p>\n
New York State has an office that helps families pursue those claims, free of charge.<\/p>\n
Alan Mindel, the chairman of Long Island’s Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center and the son of survivors, said the center is reaching out to other survivors to remind them of the legitimate avenues for claims.<\/p>\n
“You couldn’t have a more vulnerable population, period,” he said. “These are people that have suffered the worst atrocities of humankind that are now dealing with this.”<\/p>\n
Agencies CBS News New York spoke to are not aware of losses as a result of the fraud.<\/p>\n
It’s unknown how the fraudsters got the names and contact information of Holocaust survivors.<\/p>\n
Survivors and their families can check if a communication they received is fraudulent with the Department of Financial Services.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Holocaust survivors and their families who believe they may be eligible for compensation or restitution, or who want to verify a communication came from or is affiliated with the HCPO, should contact the New York State Holocaust Claims Processing Office at (800) 695-3318 or claimsques@dfs.ny.gov. \u00a0<\/p>\n
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