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j.c.

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j.c.

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Tuesday, 09/06/2005 2:23:32 PM

Tuesday, September 06, 2005 2:23:32 PM

Post# of 1642
U.S. officials warn against hurricane aid scams
By Jon Hurdle

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - U.S. government officials warned on Tuesday that scam artists will try to profit from the outpouring of donations to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina.

After last year's Asian tsunami that killed nearly 300,000 people, the
FBI investigated more than 170 Web sites that were preying on donors by mimicking the sites of well-known charities, according to Patrick Meehan, U.S. district attorney for Eastern Pennsylvania.

While no evidence has emerged of criminals attempting to divert money destined for hurricane victims, Meehan said authorities were on high alert.

"If the lessons of September 11th and the Asian tsunami are learned, some cold-hearted evil scam artists will use this occasion to perpetrate fraud, lining their own pockets at the expense of hurricane victims," Meehan told a news conference.

Private donors should avoid giving personal data such as social security numbers, dates of birth and bank account information to any organization that says it is seeking disaster aid, and should make sure they are giving money to a legitimate organization, officials said.

Some scam artists seek funds by adopting names that are similar to those of well-known organizations, such as "Red Shield" instead of Red Cross. Others attempt to win the confidence of the donor by thanking them for past donations.

"Be skeptical if someone thanks you for a pledge you don't remember making," said Oriey Glenn of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which is on the lookout for such scams.

Officials said the public should give directly to well-known organizations such as the Red Cross, rather than to an intermediary that might claim a "processing fee" to forward the donation. They also warned against organizations seeking a fee to help locate a family member caught up in the disaster.

The Red Cross said it had so far received $409.2 million in pledges from individuals, corporations and foundations.

Meehan urged people to avoid giving to Web sites whose addresses end in ".com" since most nonprofit organizations use ."org," and beware of emails soliciting donations, since legitimate charitable groups typically avoid that approach.

Donors seeking to confirm the legitimacy of a charity were urged to check the Web sites of the American Institute of Philanthropy and Charity Navigator, an organization that evaluates charities.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050906/wr_nm/scams_dc


Charity Navigator
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
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