Flood waters are still receding in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in southeastern Texas, but it’s apparently never too early for fraud. With hundreds of thousands of abandoned vehicles left in the flooded streets of Houston and beyond, unscrupulous wreckers have already “kidnapped” some vehicles, according to Insurance Council of Texas spokesman Mark Hanna. According to him, some wreckers, whom he characterizes as “a small number of characters here,” have been pulling vehicles from the waters and then charging vehicle owners as much as $4000 to $5000 to get their cars and trucks back, adding on administrative and handling fees to jack up the price. “We’re telling people, if they do use a wrecker service, use caution whenever they’re asked to sign anything,” Hanna said. Yet a vast number of vehicles are currently in need of towing services in the 125 Texas counties affected by the storm. Hanna’s office said Thursday that about 100,000 car and truck owners have already submitted insurance claims for flood-damaged vehicles. About 75 percent of those vehicles will likely be totaled. Multiple reports put the estimated number of cars damaged in the widespread flooding at 500,000 or more. Solera, a Texas-based technology company specializing in auto claims, estimates that 500,000 to 600,000 vehicles will be considered ruined. 
Once the cars and trucks are dried out, another grift begins: the sale of flood-damaged ca...