A friend of mine sent this information to me. I was sceptical about writing a post on it because what we need to worry about or be cautious of, seems to be ever increasing! Nevertheless I thought it was worth it, what with the recent events in Burma. So have a read and if you can, please let me know if you found it helpful or not.
Charities are coming under increasing attack from fraudsters who try to use their good name to make a lucrative profit. In the light of the tsunami, fraudsters and con artists hit inboxes on a global scale. Scams come in the form of either modified versions of the classic Nigerian scam letter, or in the form of a more sophisticated phishing operation, in which potential donors receive an email luring them into making donations to a fake website.
These email scams are engineered to exploit the generosity of people who have rushed online to donate money to the relief effort, only to find out that not only does the donation not reach the beneficiaries but further amounts are likely to be taken as well as the identity of the card holder.
Reduce the risk:
- If you receive a suspicious email purporting to be from a bona fide charity which requests personal details in relation to a donation, do not reply to it
- If you receive a link from an email purporting to be a bona fida charity then don’t click on it – contact the charity direct using either a number or web address you know to be genuine
- Use official channels, such as the Disasters Emergency Committee’s website at www.dec.org.uk
- If you find the email is bogus, report it to the police and the charity concerned
- Be vigilant at all times
