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FBI Warns: Many Tsunami Relief Pleas Are Fake
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."
Amazingly, the site is still up. The owner, "Damion", offers the following weak apology:
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!
I just donated $100 on Amazon.com!!
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.
- Jax
Why do dumb/naive people keep falling for scams like this? Each disaster these scams pop up, each time the public is warned about them, but it still works..
Is there some sort of university program I'm not aware of, pumping out mindless peons by the thousands each year so they can make the same mistake as others did last year? Apart from Hamburger University of course..
Then again, University of Miami law professor Enrique Fernandez-Barros somehow managed to become part of a 419 scam in which $1.68 million got lost...
SCO employee? Check out the bounty
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
watch this
During 9/11, people were shocked that street vendors sold water for $20 a bottle and nearby jewelry stores were robbed. I always thought "Well, if the disaster was of a much bigger magnitude, people would probably not do this."
Now, 150,000 dead, and we still have assholes trying to make a buck off it. What does it take for these people to learn morals? Is the extra cash worth that much when there's now several thousand orphans? Do we need, what, a nuclear holocaust to get assholes to knock it off?
According to Allan Nairn, a journalist who's been an Indonesia eyewitness for decades, most of even the legitimate aid money is funneled through governments like the Indonesian, which then funds further attacks on any surviving, devastated populations of these resource-rich "rebellious" regions. Nairn does recommend ETAN, which funnels aid to the indigenous "PCC" relief org - which seems the most conscionable course, at least until someone blows the whistle on them.
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make install -not war
It seems that fraudulent claims in the wake of disaster are becoming commonplace. During 9/11 there were many scams and fake pleas for disaster relief. Such claims are no different than denying people the help that they need. In a way, it's almost like a DOS attack against victims.
The nigerian scam artists have have updated their mailings - I just received one from a person claiming to need help distributing $32m to relief organizations in return for a 10% cut.
Are they ever gonna give up?
Jw
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.
Broken Hearts are for Assholes. - Frank Zappa
This is one of those "ounce of prevention vs. pound of cure" things. If we spend a little bit of money up front to put out TV and radio advertisements, it seems that the government would have to spend far less money investigating these assholes and helping victims of this sort of fraud. If K-12 schools taught kids how to detect online b.s. and community colleges featured this sort of instruction as part of entry-level computer classes, it could go a long way toward minimizing the negative economic impact of the broad range of Internet fraud.
But of course current thinking in the United States is an extreme form of caveat emptor, so I'm just engaging in wishful thinking.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
It's news because people forget and need to be reminded that goodwill shouldn't overpower good sense.
-mkb
You may not know, but Brazil got affected by the Tsunami big time.
After all, it's near Jacarta, India and other countries. Several people died in Brazil
Please help
how long until
I got this via email the other day, and decided to post it for others to see:
Tsunami Scam
Sounds like a nigerian letter, but with Tsunami mixed in there.
The only charitable organization I contribute to is the Salvation Army.
They have feet on the ground everywhere in the world, and they don't squander your money. It actually makes it to victims of disaster and poverty.
We must be alert to the danger that public policy could become captive to a scientific-technological elite. - Eisenhower
This is the danger of everyone and there brother adding links to say help the tsunami survivors to their web pages. Everyone should have just link directly to the Red Cross web site or similar organization. This is why I have not donated anything yet because I want to be absolutely certain that when I donate the money, it goes to the right place. I will probably wait until the real money is needed. There's going to be alot of waste now and when everyone forgets about it is when the problem will really start. It will take YEARS to recover the area affected. It's not something that will even be over on December 26th of 2005. This is a once in a lifetime disaster for much of the world. The loss is tremendous. Unfortunately during times such as this, there's always some incredible assholes who think hey I will scam some people. As always, I give IN PERSON. Walk in to the Red Cross in your town and just give them a check or cash. Only then will you know that a good percentage of your money will go where it's needed. Also, don't just give to the Red Cross now. They always need your money. Make it a yearly donation and increase it a bit when the Red Cross is in need of extra help for hurricanes, blizzards, earthquakes, tornadoes and terrorist attacks.
Better yet, if your technically inclined, get your ham license and donate sometime to ARES by training in events and field day. Then when disaster strikes in your area, you'll be ready. I used to think it was ridiculous, but after a bad ice/snowstorm took out people's electric and 2-3 inches of rain falling right after that cause flooding in and around Columubus we'd never be needed but in just 14 days we had 2 activations of ARES to staff the red cross shelters with communciators. I know it won't help the Tsunami victims, but then when something like this hits your town, you can not only donate your money but also your time.
Gorkman
I have seen reports that many of the well known charites and nonprofits spend a egregious amount of money on so-called administrative costs, with only a small percent eventually going to those in need.
Apparently these "administrative costs" are often things like new cars and fat bonuses for the nonprofits' management...
eat shiat and bark at the moon
Well, either that or slashdot 'em.
Linux Wireless Hardware in the UK
It will be interesting to see how the FBI deals with "muslim" charities it has identified as terror funding conduits, as their pipes are filled with donations from Muslims (and others) targeting the huge Muslim communities devastated by the quake and tsunami. Will the FBI reveal that some Muslim posers are ripping off virtuous donating Muslims, stealing lifesaving aid to instead fund suicide bombers in their jihad? When some are revealed, how will Muslim leaders around the world react? Will some of the leaders who are complicit with the funders find a way to blame the FBI, and America, for their own sins? And will the US government find a way to frame legitimate Muslim charities with fake charges of this kind of fraud, fueling the counter-jihad crusade? God only knows - god certainly isn't doing anything to stop it.
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make install -not war
Only because we can't find another host country stupid enough to take them in.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
And let's not forget all those "legitimate" charities that spend as much as 80% of their contributions on their own "expenses". (The standard of the "charity industry" is supposed to be 25% overhead -- but I find even that much repulsive.) Which is why, when I reach for my own wallet, I examine the organization I'm giving to as carefully as the cause they're raising funds for.
Oh, how I wish I was joking...
UTF-8: There and Back Again
Paramount Theatres has had spiderman and ET heart pins that are used for rasing money for charities. They are $3 each but they keep 2/3 of the money. In one ad they mentioned they raised 50 million meaning they made 100 million. It'd be nice if they gave their part aswell.
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insert sig here,here, and here
" The boy about 2 years, from Khoa Lak is missing his parents. :
Nobody knows what country he comes from. If
anybody knows him please contact
us by phone 076-249400-4 ext. 1336, 1339 or e- mail
info@phuket-inter-hospital.co.th
image001.jpg"
Trouble is, it contained a spammers zombie (I didn't realise when I got it) and it depends on suckers trying to be helpful and recirculating it to people they know to infect them. That's how it got to me but 'cos I use Linux I was immune and I didnt circulate it anyway.
What I did do was waste the cops and the Norwegian embassy's time. I recognised the kid in the picture from a TV news report that named his parent nationality name and location. I spent an hour on the phone to the TV station the police and the Norwegian consulate telling them that I knew who the kid was and I could help.
Turns out they knew anyway so did I do right or wrong? did the spammer do wrong? suppose I had been the only one to indentify this lost 2 years to the parent but I had infected loads of people in the process?
Spammers - what slime-bags.
I am revoking your slashdot license. Although your spelling is above average, your cofunsion of the concepts of trademark, patent and copyright are unacceptable. Please note you are still fully qualified to post at fark.
Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley
Check out this story:
T.O. police arrest man posing as Red Cross worker
There's no reason you should to give your money to strangers. If you can't/don't want to donate money over the internet, go to your local Redcross office. Every major city has one.
Nope, that may be true in a non-emergency situation/area, but trying to justify selling water (a basic fucking commodity) for $20 a bottle in an emergency with economic theory is pretty lame.
That's right. All your base.
Aaaaaargh! Why on earth is the UN nowadays viewed as some kind of evil empire in the US? Is the reason still the opposition to the Iraq war to destroy Husseins WMDs (which can't be found but that's an other story)? I mean I know the UN has its problems, but still it is the only forum where nations can talk there problems over easily. Also I feel that a little bit of cordination wouldn't probably be a bad idea during catastrophis that affect many countries.
Nethack is no longer the king
Oh great, now people won't give money to the grassroots organisations who are actually doing good stuff. Instead they'll stick to the big charities like Oxfam who spend most of their money on advertising and administration.
It's really odd when I think about it, but a personal message put out over the internet reached me far deeper than our President's cynical call for (bank) aid, or my church's call for extra donations in the collection basket, or the endless streams of impersonal pleadings that I've seen on television. I guess that's the real power of the internet to raise money... the personal touch... and if some goes astray (as I feel in my gut that it will) I feel much less disgusted with myself for my action.
Since when is "hoarding your money" a crime? He earned it, he can keep it or give it away in any way he pleases. Some people are going to starve to death and some people are going to be filthy rich, it's just how capitalism works, but it's the best system we've got. The majority of the middle people live relatively decent lives.
The Red Cross has a patent on that logo, and they aggressively defend it, even against other philanthropic, non-profit, and medical organizations.
And rightly so... if it were to become diluted, you'd get situations like hospital ships being fair game in combat.
The problem that people have with the UN is that it's more than a place for nations can easily discuss problems.
It's a controlling entity, itself. It's from the issues stemming from this that many people take issue with the UN. Well, that, and it's filled with liberal US-haters.
Hating the UN goes back much farther than discussion of invading Iraq under George W. Bush.
During 9/11, people were shocked that street vendors sold water for $20 a bottle and nearby jewelry stores were robbed. I always thought "Well, if the disaster was of a much bigger magnitude, people would probably not do this."
Now, 150,000 dead, and we still have assholes trying to make a buck off it. What does it take for these people to learn morals? Is the extra cash worth that much when there's now several thousand orphans? Do we need, what, a nuclear holocaust to get assholes to knock it off?
I don't follow the logic of that at all.
Why would heartless vultures stop being opportunistic thieves because something bad happened to other people? They lead lives where they constantly look for their next victim, they routinely inflict misery on others, and you, somehow, expect them to suddenly stop being leeches because an unrellated event killed a lot of people at once?
I seriously don't understand how anyone could be surprised that thieves keep on thieving, even when you're upset. If someone has no empathy for the people he/she routinely con in person, there is no reason to expect them to have empathy for the faceless dead, no matter how numerous.
You can't take the sky from me...
The moral qualms, really, come into play when you get there with your water to sell. OK, so you've hatched up this plan to sell water in the disaster areas. You go there with your water and a money box. When you're there, can you really look into the eyes of the victims, some clinging to the brink of death, and say, I won't give you this basic need of life unless you pay me up? A lot of people can't, I think myself included, and this really should be the root of why the practice draws any moral discomfort. However, if someone can do that, while we might say that this could reflect badly on their general moral characteristics, they are, again, still doing more to help than someone who does nothing at all.
In case someone jumps me on this - no, I don't think relief efforts should be privatized, or whatever. Governments put forth large efforts to get basic commodities and needs into areas, and I certainly have no problem with that, and am glad of it. I'd want it if some kind of natural disaster struck me. But governments can't do as much as governments and individuals can do combined, and if you are outraged at water sellers, you should be even more outraged at every individual out there who hasn't contributed to the relief efforts. Yes, just as outraged at every one.
Saying something is "lame," by the way, isn't a very coherent argument towards showing that it's "wrong."
Real Numbers - writing with a quantita
How about a banner link for the genuine Tsunami charities on Slashdot?
I remember one for 9/11, so why not now?
Si tacuisses philosophus mansisses. If you had kept quiet, you would have remained a philosopher.
you'd get situations like hospital ships being fair game in combat
It's fair to mention that the LOAC (Laws of Armed Combat) make such facilities fair game if they are being used to perform military action. That said, I haven't seen too many terrorists being shy about targeting hospitals regardless of use, or using them (and mosques, and schools) as fighting positions. When I served in the Afghanistan theatre, we even made troops leave their long-arms (and all ordinance heavier than side-arms) outside our hospital. Now our "hospital" was a tent, we were miles from anything, and there were no media types around to see it, but we still did it. It wouldn't have stopped the terrorists from rocketing our position, but we at least tried to play by the rules.
In the subject of the Red Cross, the LOAC explicitly prohibits perfidy, or treacherous actions, including misuse of the Red Cross or Red Crescent. The laws of warfare can probably stand alone without the support of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
This would be a perfect instance in which to use a BGP blacklist of known scamming sites to keep your unwitting users from getting caught up in the scam. nbar is a wonderful thing after all.
A few days ago I checked my Gmail and found a tsunami plea in my spam box. After enabling the graphics, I was pleased to see the actual charity whose name was being used realized one of their graphics was linked in the phishing email. So they changed it! Here is the result. Very clever. They deserve a donation for doing this, if nothing else.
If I contributed to a "fake" fund... can I still declare it on my 2004 taxes?
- soupmaster
I've been working with AID (aidindia.org) for 5 days so far. It's been a crazy time - the amount of stuff coming in and going out has been incredible. Primary problem being that stuff comes in small lots, but has to go out in big lots, with first priority going to whatever is the immediate need on the field.
If anyone is still interested in donating, I'd suggest they look up aidindia.org and the daily reports filed by the field volunteers.
All bow to his Noodliness!! His Noodle Appendage has touched me!