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Prepare For Massive Wave of Earthquake Scams
wiredmikey sends this quote from Security Week:
"Today's tragic events of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami, as sad as it is, is a dream for scammers and fraudsters around the world. Tragic events are always something scammers use to their advantage, helping them prey on and exploit innocent victims. Scams are already spreading across Facebook, which started in a matter of minutes after the news broke of the earthquake in Japan. As I write this, scammers are hard at work, registering new domains and cranking out templates for their fake donation sites. This will be followed with massive volumes of email spam, Tweets through Twitter, and Facebook posts, as scammers gear up to solicit donations from around the world."
As coverage of the earthquake and resulting tsunami has proceeded, collections of videos and pictures are showing the extent of the devastation. The NY Times makes the excellent point that things could have been much worse if not for building codes and quake-resistant engineering. A state of emergency was declared at one of Japan's nuclear plants, after the earthquake caused cooling problems at one of the reactors. No radiation leakage has been reported, and the US Air Force has helped by delivering coolant by air.
The fact that people would take advantage of the disaster and misery at the cost of thousands of people just disgusts me. It happened with Katrina, it happened with Haiti, and I guess they're gearing up for this disaster. You fuckers, I hope you rot in hell.
A state of emergency was declared at one of Japan's nuclear plants, after the earthquake caused cooling problems at one of the reactors. No radiation leakage has been reported, and the US Air Force has helped by delivering coolant by air.
This, right here, is why a well funded military is so needed!
Because it's cheaper than paying for the aftermath of a godzilla attack!
It appears that one way to improve your chance of survival in a tsunami is to not have a white car.
http://i.imgur.com/ddHiq.jpg
Not just to charities created because of tragedies, but to any charity at all. Websites such as Charity Watchdog (http://www.charitywatch.org/) exist to allow you to confirm how legit any given organization is. (When in doubt, just throw ten bucks at Red Cross International or Doctors Without Borders.)
Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
"Prepare For Massive Wave"
Don't you think it's a bit soon to be making puns?
Listen, people are idiots and fools are easily parted with their money. More, people have a short attention span and never follow up on the results.
People were suckered into the whole Haiti thing last year. Morons "texting" cash to charities and schiesters like Bill Clinton and George Bush encouraging people to "just send us your cash". And in the end? No accountability. I don't even need to go into the troubles with the Red Cross and the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, which raised hundreds of millions of dollars, can't seem to account for where all that money went to. Last I recall, Clinton was present to see the handing over of three million bucks or some similarly ridiculously low number.
You had global donations from governments promised in the billions (at least five billion, I believe). You had moron celebrities holding telethons and telling you that you should give your cash.
And idiots gave their cash. But they never looked in on what was going on. Why should they? I texted my $10 to some place, so I'm a good person now! I don't need to figure out whatever happened after that!
Meanwhile, it's a year later and we're told that people are still living in tents and everyone is dying of dysentery or whatever.
Of course, Japan is less likely to be prone to this kind of problem, I think. The only concern there will be with fake charities trying to scam you out of donations through fake websites and other services. And that's what this article was talking about, to begin with. The problem in Haiti was different, in that they're not the power that is Japan. They're fucking Haiti. And actual real organizations simply behaved criminally after extorting donations from you.
what technology has japan used or is japan using thats saved so many lives?
Japan has an impressive Earthquake alert system. They picked the shaking 1 minute before it main force hit. That gave time for most of the people to evacute the buildings as needed. Same goes for the Tsunami. Where they didn't have time to react though, like in Sendai, which was absurdly close to the epicenter, the death tool was worst.
--- "When you gotta do something wrong. You gotta do it right. (Fighter)"
Give to the Organization for Scam Prevention Now!
Have gnu, will travel.
There's a significant difference between "number dead" and "number confirmed dead". The actual number who have died is unknown, so most outlets report the numbers that are known to be dead.
That means that the number will (sadly) climb much higher. With 1,300 miles of shoreline affected by the tsunami, I expect we won't be talking in the hundreds for very long, unfortunately.
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
So I'm just a bit in the gray on this issue. Where's the line drawn on what's morally acceptable with this? If I immediately run and sell all my Japanese stocks and instead buy into rice after seeing all the fields on tv being destroyed, does that mean I'm evil and taking advantage of this situation? I would still end up being in a financially better position as a result of a tragedy.
Sure, you should be compensated, but if you're in the "charity business", you would think you'd be a little more ethically inclined. How do you justify hundreds of thousands in salary for a position where you head a *charity*? I would say $500,000/yr is a bit extreme for the Red Cross and $1,000,000/yr is a bit extreme for the United Way. You aren't talking about providing salaries that make sure these people can focus on the job rather than living in a cardboard box. You're talking about paying them enough to be millionaires on charitable donations.
Compare to China recently where a less powerful quake sent brick buildings toppling onto and killing tens of thousands of people, including government buildings such as schoolhouses that collapsed and killed the children inside.
Building codes are one of the areas where it's almost impossible to argue against the need for government regulation.
No aid needed. The GOP has voted to send an emergency humanitarian shipment of tax cuts to the affected area.
"The pie shall be cut in half and each man shall receive.....death. I'll eat the pie."
Just like AIG mortgages, Katrina floods, So Cal wild fires, and America's heath plan, when its time for that insurance in times of disaster, suddenly you realize you don't really have the coverage required to restore your losses. Its kind of like most things when you pay in advance of receiving the goods.
....
Lets just see if the insurance industry fell into the cracks, yet again, leaving flood victims "high and dry" in the low and wet. I bet that earthquake coverage just got washed away by all of that salt water. So it you gotta have boat insurance under that much water.
"Its a Tsunami not an earthquake, Mr. Miagi....so sorry"
All of those disaster policies only sold you a false sense of security, in exchange for years of cash..... Who gets to break their legs if they don't pay...another act of God, or the Yakuza?
At the end of the day it's about using the money to make the best difference. If paying 100k a year to put someone in that position organizing charities across the globe where a single decision could waste or make hundreds of thousands of dollars it might be worth it to have a high enough salary for that position that you attract someone who is extremely competent at making those organizational decisions and actions and thus gives you a net gain in efficiency. anyways, there's a lot of watchdog sites that show the overhead factor for different charities and they are usually fairly low. While the top person might be making a good bit you have to understand the breadth and scale of the responsibility they have and how terribly it could effect every level of the organization if they don't perform.
It's not robotic rescue dogs, it's building codes that reduce the need for them in the first place.
I live in SoCal. I tell my friends from other places that the safest place to be when an earthquake hits is "somewhere else", but if you can't be there, then SoCal (and NorCal, too) is one of the best places to be.
Why? Because we know that the Big One is coming... someday... Our building codes are designed so that while the building might not be safe to occupy, it will stand long enough to let you get out. And the codes are under constant revision after every earthquake. Example, the '94 Northridge quake was a kind they hadn't seen or planned for. Codes got revised because of it.
Both Los Angeles and St. Louis sit on top of major faults. Which city would you rather be in when a 7.5 quake hits?
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Please don't. 90999 may be legit, but we don't want to be teaching people to donate by sending off texts to random numbers. If you want to give to Red Cross, go to their website, it's much easier to see where the money is actually going there.
Building codes are one of the areas where it's almost impossible to argue against the need for government regulation.
I propose a building code that stipulates carbon nanotube framing and internal airbags, plus a municipal ordinance prohibiting tchotchkes weighing more than 2 kg. Surely that would save even more lives in the event of an 8.9 magnitude earthquake.
Set your phasers on "funky"!
I know its prob already been said and I am well aware I am a horrible person for saying this but does anyone else find it morbidly comical that the US Air Force is now flying over Japan to try and prevent a nuclear incident?
That's because the Japanese are honorary white people, and not poor, so of course we'll help.
If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
The governor of Louisiana declined requests by President Bush to have the National Guard enforce state laws, and didn't request any additional troops until 2 days after Katrina. The President does not have the authority to just send the military into a state.
Godaddy is a scam and a ripoff.