Beware of scams involving aid for Haiti earthquake victims

By The Klaxon Staff / inquiries@theklaxon.com / 01.18.2010

Updated on: 01.18.10 at 8:43 pm

As the entire world attempts to render disaster relief to the countless victims of Haiti’s earthquake, it is imperative that we protect ourselves from those opportunists who prey upon the charitable nature of humans to assist those in their time of need. As the amount of earthquake victims in Haiti exponentially grows, so will the number of those victimized around the world that will be deceived into giving money to fraudulent disaster aid organizations. We witnessed the same scams after 9/11. 

Here are some tips from The Klaxon to keep you safe:

Be wary if you are solicited via telephone or e-mail claiming to be a charitable or governmental disaster relief organization asking for donations.

Always ask for the name of the individual who is speaking with you, as well as the name, address and phone number of the organization in question. Ask if the charity is registered and get their registration number. Investigate to see if they are a known organization with the Better Business Bureau or CharityNavigator.org.

Ask for them to slowly say and spell the name of the charity for you. Many times these charlatans will devise a name that sounds similar to or closely resembles a reputable charity.

If they play on your sympathies to give even more than you want to pledge or are almost demanding in nature, then be wary because most legitimate charities will be thankful to receive any amount that you willing to offer.

Avoid giving personal information when possible, especially credit card numbers, bank account numbers or social security numbers. Refrain from giving such information to a Web site that you have not checked out.

Ask them how the money is to be allocated and spent.

Ask them what is the percentage that will go to the victims?

DO NOT give cash to anyone you do not know. If you choose to donate by check, think about writing it out to the charity of your choice and not to an individual soliciting your revenue. If you choose to write a check, it may be a better choice to utilize a gel-type writing instrument than ballpoint pen because it is less likely to be washed off the check than ink in a check-washing scheme. Gel seeps directly into the paper of the check, where ink does not.

Conduct a check on a Web site by going to www.whois.com and see who owns the domain name.