Law enforcement agencies and fraud experts are warning that scammers may take advantage of Haiti relief appeals to trick people out of money. Such scams have been known to appear after similar disasters and are often in the form of phishing emails.
Haiti Phishing Emails
Some Haiti scam emails have already appeared in inboxes across the globe, claiming to be from the British Red Cross Society. Unlike other phishing scams, it adds the legitimate postal address for the British Red Cross Society in order to appear authentic. The email asks for donations to go towards humanitarian assistance for people in Haiti to be sent via Western Union.
The British Red Cross do not use Western Union to receive donations – this email is a scam.
Other Potential Haiti Scams
Other scams that have been used following natural disasters include fraudsters posing as victims of the disasters, asking for financial assistance directly, and identity theft scammers looking for personal information, who target actual victims offering to financially assist them.
Don’t be a Victim of a Haiti Relief Scam
Be wary of any individual claiming to be a victim of the disaster – it’s far safer to donate to reputable charities. Some fraudsters posing as individual disaster victims will encourage their victims to ask their friends and family to make donations too. It makes the scam far easier for them if ‘trusted’ people make the ask of others. So even if friends ask for money, donate to a trustworthy charity instead.
When donating to a charity, visit the website by typing in the legitimate url into the address bar. Never click on a link from an email. Fraudsters often set-up bogus websites that have a similar look and feel to the actual charity’s website. Be sceptical of requests to donate to charity via Western Union or other similar methods.
Unsolicited emails should be avoided in general – if a phishing email doesn’t ask for a donation directly, it may be an attempt to find out personal information that can be used for identity theft later.
Those who are unsure whether a charity is reputable or not can see a list on the Charity Watchdog website.
Already a Victim of a Haiti Scam?
Those who think they may already have been a victim of a Haiti scam should report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Centre (IC3), which is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Centre (NW3C) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). Even if the donation is not recoverable from the fraudster, raising awareness of particular scams can prevent others from becoming victims.
Sasha Arms - After graduating from university with a degree in Geography, Sasha became Managing Editor and Travel Editor of Futurespace Magazine. She ...
