Disasters Inspire Fraud

Internet users should be especially wary of fraudulent email correspondence and bogus websites during and after major disasters. Within hours of Katrina's strike, websites sprang up which purport to collect funds to assist storm victims. Some of these websites and spam emails instead are funneling money into private accounts, and some are even more insidious, seeking instead to use disaster relief as a front to collect private information for further attempts at general identity theft. Some websites are purely malicious, using disaster relief-related links for no other purpose than to install viruses and other malicious programs. Florida's attorney general, Charlie Crist, last week filed a lawsuit against a man in Yulee, FL after intercepting donations to several of his new Katrina-related websites which were apparently funding the man's private PayPal account. The Federal Trade Commission in addition has advised that Katrina victims who lost personal identification during the disaster are especially prone to further identity theft at a time when they are most vulverable and least able to defend themselves or even detect that theft has occurred. Those interested in sending disaster relief donations via the Internet are advised by law enforcement to always type in the website address of a known and trusted entity into the address bar of their browsers, and never click on a link received in an email, even if the email seems legitimate. The Better Business Bureau's Wise Business Alliance lists legitimate charitable websites on its Give.org website, and the American Red Cross website at RedCross.org also provides helpful information to those wishing to assist victims of Katrina. For more information and additional links, read: Les Christie, "Beware Hurricane Katrina Scams," in CNNMoney, Sept. 1, 2005.