Beware of Tsunami Scams

Across the world, millions of well-intentioned individuals are reaching into their pockets to help victims of the December 26, 2004 Tsunami.  Unfortunately, those charitable minded folks may find some unwelcome hands reaching for their wallets.

As we have seen in the past – after other natural disasters and in the aftermath of 9/11 – there always seems to be people who are prepared to exploit the situation for their personal benefit.

With that in mind, we offer the following thoughts to those who are planning to make donations:

1. Be mindful of the credentials of the organizations you support.  Try to deal with well-known entities, but even then, be certain that the money is earmarked for the relief efforts.
2. Make certain that the charity is registered in your state and that it is willing to provide detailed information about its finances and its programs.
3. Be certain of the identity of the charity you select.  Scam artists sometimes pick names that are close to those of existing and recognizable charities to create confusion and divert funds.  This past week, The Washington Times reported that representatives of the Oxfam charity dumped e-mails on people asking them to donate to the charity by sending money to a bank account in Spain.  The problem was they were scammers not connected to Oxfam.
4. Make sure that the charity is experienced at delivering services, not just collecting money.
5. Always make checks payable to the charity, not to an individual, and never send cash.
6. Be wary of "hard sell" telephone solicitations seeking contributions.  Never contribute in response to a telemarketing call without first checking out the credentials of the charity and the solicitor.
7. Do not respond to e-mails soliciting funds or providing "links" to so-called charitable sites.  Always check the urls provided to be certain they really belong to a legitimate charitable organization.
8. Check with your local consumer protection agency or the Better Business Bureau to be certain the charity is bona fide.  The give.org website provides detailed evaluative reports on many of the U.S.-based charities that are providing assistance o Tsunami victims.

Sadly, there is more than one way to profit from a disaster.  One enterprising woman had the ill-conceived idea to purchase an internet address — "tsunamirelief.com" — for $9 and then sell it on Ebay for $99.

She soon regretted her plans and decided instead to contribute the web address.  She received an e-mail from a young Canadian man who said he was putting together a website to help the millions displaced by the disaster.  She gave him the web address, free of charge.  A few days later, she saw the domain name offered on eBay for $50,000.



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