Beware of Relief Scams in Wake of Hurricane Sandy Tim Bates - Rome Observer
go to original November 1, 2012

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Gulf of Mexico and caused widespread destruction and death. Shortly after this disaster, the relief scams started.

Recently, Hurricane Sandy affected much of the East Coast. Many of us will try to help in any way that we can and many times our help will come in the form of financial donations.

When we talk about thieves and scammers one theme is universal — they look for easy targets and try to capitalize on the trust and kindness of their victims. They will use well-publicized tragedies as an avenue into your pockets.

Unfortunately, when these types of sad and tragic events occur, the scammers act quickly to set up fake charities that target your kindness and willingness to help others.

As with most scammers, the relief fund or charity scammer will utilize every method possible to make contact with potential victims. Telephone calls, email, mass mailings and fictitious websites are commonly used to solicit donations.

Telephone solicitors may call you stating that they are a legitimate, well known charitable organization, asking for your donation.

Although the telephone solicitor can be very convincing and may “talk the talk”, be very cautious.

As I have stated in earlier articles, know that technology exists that allows anyone to change the information that will be displayed on your telephone caller ID.

Your caller ID may display a name and telephone number of a legitimate charity, however it may very well be a scammer who has changed his outgoing call display information. This technology is easy to obtain and is widely used by telephone scammers.

Email is an easy way for the scammer to target many victims at once. You may receive an email asking for a donation or asking you to click on an attached link that will direct you to a website where you can find more information regarding the “charity”.

Other emails may ask you to click on a photo that shows the suffering and destruction that the earthquake has caused.

Be aware that you may be exposing your computer to all sorts of dangerous viruses or malware infections when you click on these types of links or photos.

Fraudulent websites that claim they are soliciting money for disaster victims are also being used by scammers.

The website may claim that your donation will be used to help the victims, but that is not the case. Your donation will go directly into the pocket of the scammer, and if you provide your credit card information to these fraudulent websites, it is very likely that your account will be drained.

Please be aware that scammers are quite good at spoofing a website to make it appear that it is a well known and legitimate site.

Mass mailings are also commonly used by scammers. We receive phone calls and emails every week regarding different types of scam letters that have been received by people locally.

The scammer may send you a letter in the mail that explains how you can help the disaster victims. The letter will explain that your financial assistance is needed to help the victims and you can send money directly to the phony charity, or they may provide a telephone number.

Of course when you call the telephone number, the scammer will try to obtain your credit card and personal information. The letter may be from a charity that you have never heard of, or it may be from what appears to be a well-known charity complete with the logo and other information of the legitimate charity.

It is not difficult to clone the letterhead of a charity or any other business. These fake documents can be easily made on a home computer. Be very cautious in responding to unsolicited letters or other mailings that are asking for a donation or for your credit card or other personal information.

The victims of these disasters certainly need assistance in many forms. If you plan on donating to a charity or other relief fund, donate to well-known charities and contact the charity directly. Many have local offices where you can place your donation safely and they will provide you with a receipt. Be wary of any charitable individual or organization that contacts you directly regarding these disasters. If you believe that you have become the victim of a charity scam, contact your local police agency and file a report.

Tim Bates is the Detective Commander of the Rome, New York Police Department. For questions or comments, he can be reached via email at: batest@romepd.com

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