FBI Warns Against Haiti Quake Scams

Many people hear about the widespread suffering following a natural disaster and try to help. Unfortunately, other people hear about it and think, “Perfect time to pull a scam.”

The FBI on Wednesday was forced to issue the now-routine warning to people seeking to donate money for victims of the massive 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti: Watch out for phony e-mail solicitations from fake survivors, as well as content and video links that could be spyware in disguise.

The agency says it’s already investigating one fraudulent request for aid, and pleas from other fake charities popped up on Craigslist within hours of the disaster, CBS News reported, citing the security company Websense Inc.

The FBI urged Internet users “who receive appeals to donate money in the aftermath of Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti to apply a critical eye and do their due diligence before responding to those requests.”

The phony online charity phenomenon came into its own following the December 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which killed 230,000 people in 14 countries. Several scams followed, and a man in Portland, Ore., was arrested in January 2005 after falsely claiming to work for the charity Mercy Corps.

The FBI and other Internet security experts advise donors to stick with established charities, and use a variety of online tools to check out an organization before you send them a check or pay online.

Given the enormity of the crisis and the race to find survivors amid the rubble, some nonprofits have used 21st century technology to get donated money where it’s needed. The Red Cross said on its Twitter feed early Thursday morning that nearly $3 million had been donated by people in $10 increments, just by texting the word “Haiti” to 90999. The amount is added to your phone bill.

Also, Haitian-born hip-hop singer Wyclef Jean’s Web site, Yele.org, has a similar functionality; mobile users can send $5 to the charity by texting “yele” to 501501.

“The smart giver who wants to do some extra work should also look at the charity’s 990 tax form on Guidestar and focus on how much money is going for charitable purposes and how much going to salaries and fundraising,” Dean Zerbe, an expert on charitable compliance and a former Senate investigator, told CBS.

Several sites offer ways to do homework on a charity: The Foundation Center, where you can see the most recent IRS tax filing; Charity Navigator, which gives information on charities’ overhead costs; and the Better Business Bureau.