Taking Advantage of Tragedy

Those who want to contribute money to the Hurricane Katrina disaster, or for any other cause, should be careful about how they give and to whom they send their money. At times of tragedy, scams abound, and it's easy to become a victim of identity theft while doing a good deed.

(PRWEB) September 29, 2005 -- Unfortunately, during times of major disaster there are those who find ways to take advantage of victims and the generosity of people committed to helping them. We saw this with the tsunami, and it has appeared on an even larger scale with Hurricane Katrina.

Within days of the storm hitting the New Orleans and the Mississippi coast, numerous web sites -- having names with various versions of Hurricane Katrina disaster or help, sprang up on the Internet. Those behind the majority of these efforts were not as concerned with the emergency as they were with collecting money for themselves.

Devastated by this tragedy, people wanted to help. However, they should not have had to face fraudulent web sites or organizations set up with the sole purpose of taking money under false pretenses, and stealing credit card and other information from contributors, who may be haunted by this for years.

Anyone considering giving, whether over the Internet, by telephone, or through the mail, should thoroughly check out the organization requesting the money. Some of the things to investigate are:

what kind of charity they are,

where they are registered,

how long they have been operating,

how they intend to spend the money,

what percentage of the money collected will go to charitable purposes and how much to overhead expenses,

who is associated with them (i.e., Board members).

A good place to check out prospective recipients can be found by going to www.guidestar.org, where there is a listing of authentic charities. These guidelines should be followed whenever a donation is made.

Under no circumstances should anyone click on a link and donate money at the site they are directed to. This is almost surely a web site created by an identity thief, who will take not only the money, but likely steal as many identities as possible. Anyone anxious to donate should initiate the contribution and go directly to the web site of their choice. Be aware of phishing (e-mails and web sites soliciting donations that mimic legitimate groups) and pharming (fooling your computer into thinking the false site is the legitimate one) scams. There are also those villains who promise to locate missing family and friends, as long as they receive pre-payment. The aftermath of Katrina is an ideal environment for criminal activity to flourish.

Playing into this, computer viruses and assorted malware have also become more prevalent recently. Thieves have found this the perfect time to send messages about updates to the devastated area, along with 'photos. When these e-mails (many with attachments) are opened, malicious programs are downloaded and activated. Never, ever respond to these e-mails, and delete anything questionable without opening it.

Americans are very generous people, and right now the victims of Hurricane Katrina need donations and support. However, its important to give in a way that does not target the contributor. The U.S. Department of Justice has created a fraud task force specifically to handle criminal activity arising from Hurricane Katrina. Kindness should not be subjected to an appalling disregard for decency.

For more detailed information about how to protect yourself, family, and friends from identity theft, go to www.SafeguardYourInfo.com. Additional articles on this and other topics can be found at http://ezypublisher.com.

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