Internet Charity Fraud: Don’t fall for some Wolves in Sheep Clothing!
Some scammers cite a worthy cause or use the goodwill of well known charitable foundations & big corporations, to run a scam. They impersonate organizations no less than the Red Cross! These guys cheat you in the guise of charity, sometimes claiming donations to support victims of natural disasters like The Katrina.
The scam starts with an email purportedly on behalf of a reputed charitable or commercial organization. They give you the good news that you were hand-picked by the organization to receive a special grant to advance a social cause it was much involved with. The grants would supposedly be for conducting development work in furthering the cause, in your area.
They usually have a story to tell to arouse your sympathetic nerves (pun intended) and elicit an emotional response from you. Especially for this reason, they target members from religious communities to try & prey on their conscience. The scammers often throw in a Nomination or Qualification Number to make their act look more real.
But, here’s the Catch:
In order to claim the grant, the scammers would ask you to do both/either of the following:
- submit bonds worth hundreds of dollars/pounds.
- submit personal bank account information, supposedly for crediting your account with the grant (old-fashioned Phishing!).
Taking another route, the scammers may also solicit donations through websites that they own & manage. They enlist the services of PayPal and request donors to make their contributions at the site.
Scammers, in this case, can be pretty specific to be more credible. An example: A recently-uncovered scam invited donations to specifically cover jet fuel costs incurred while airlifting victims of hurricane Katrina!
Reason why these eagle-eyed swindlers favor the Internet as a medium is not difficult to figure out:
- it makes it easier for them to bolt and run.
- also, easier for them to cover their traces here, when they are done.
As an Internet user, therefore, you have to be even more wide-eyed to the activities of these scammers.
Related posts:
- Charity Fraud-Tips to stay safe!
- Beware of those DONATION FOR CHARITY WORKS Scams
- Federal Grant Scams-Wiping out Bank Accounts!
- Charity Scams
- Beware of the New Scam that promises you help from the government!
February 14th, 2009 at 7:30 am
Happy Saturday! This post helped to shed new light on the subject.. Enjoyed “t Charity Fraud: Don’t fall for some Wolves in Sheep Clothing!” although maybe not everyone did. This is a post to check and return to, bookmarked. Added a subscription to your RSS feed.