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FBI Warns: Many Tsunami Relief Pleas Are Fake

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the mailboxes-inundated dept.

lgrinberg writes "Even in the face of terrible disasters such as the Tsunami that hit South East Asia and Africa in late December, many are finding ways to take advantage of it and make money off of it. An example is fake websites that claim to be non-profit charitable organizations that help out the victims when they really take all the money for themselves. Other instances are emails or websites written by people who claim to be survivors of the disaster and are asking for help. The FBI warns that many of these are fake and recommends people to help via known non-profit organizations."

6 of 353 comments (clear)

  1. How can they sleep at night...? by Lindsay+Lohan · · Score: 5, Informative
    many are finding ways to take advantage of it and make money off of it
    ZDNet Australia had a good article a few days ago about a website, http://www.incybernet.com that the Red Cross and Tasmanian police were investigating for fraud. They were using the Red Cross logo, soliciting for credit card, money order, or cash donations. Of course, they wouldn't return calls from the mobile phone number listed on the website.

    Amazingly, the site is still up. The owner, "Damion", offers the following weak apology:
    "My sincere apology to redcross Australia and world vision Australia , and other well know charity's for disfame i might of bought to your relief efforts or your company"
  2. The worst thing I heard of... by Peden · · Score: 5, Informative

    Happened in Sweden (or maybe Britain). When the lists of missing persons was release, some people cross-referenced it to the list in the phone-book. Then they went out and fsking robbed the houses of the mising persons!

    1. Re:The worst thing I heard of... by Looke · · Score: 5, Informative

      That is what happened last time Sweden was hit by an accident this large. When the ferry Estonia sank in 1994, 800 or so were killed. This experience is the most important reason why the list of missing/dead Swedes has not been published yet.

  3. Wikipedia by JaxWeb · · Score: 5, Informative

    As many of you have probably seen, Wikipedia is listing charities in various countries of a temporary page. They mention the need to look out for fraud, but I hope none of the sites listed are fraudulent in any way. The page is here .

    This is a news story about somebody changing e-mail headers to pretend to be the British government confirming friends of the recipients to be dead. Very sick. Luckily, the police acted in this case.

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    - Jax
  4. Giving intelligently by GuyMannDude · · Score: 5, Informative

    Even legitimate charities are sometimes a bit sloppy with how they spend the contributions they get. Many non-profits spend a considerable portion of their donations on fund-raising (read: telemarketers) and compensation of management. One of my favorite non-profits is the American Institute of Philanthropy which is a watch-dog organization that releases reports that "rate" the charities on various criteria. Given the fact that there are so very many organizations that are set up to aid the tsunami victims, I encourage my fellow slashdotians to give their money to an organization that gets an A rating in the guide.

    GMD

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    watch this
  5. Reliable Orgs. by jfonseca · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've posted this in another discussion.

    Not karma hoaring, mods can skip this if they wish, here is a list of reliable places where you can donate.

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    Broken Hearts are for Assholes. - Frank Zappa