Haiti Earthquake Relief Shines Spotlight on Charity Cheats

Connecticut Better Business Bureau Explains Risks and How to Avoid Them

Wallingford, CT - January 26, 2010 – In the first hours following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, relief organizations began funneling donations to the island nation.  Unfortunately, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), during that same period, con artists also set up shop to quickly begin exploiting Americans’ generosity.

Fundraising organizations and scammers operate on Web pages and social networking sites, and in e-mails, telephone calls and even door-to-door canvassing.

The Haiti relief efforts also marked a significant change in the manner in which donations were made, by popularizing donations through telephone texting.  A typical appeal would urge donors to donate $10 by sending a text message with the word ‘HAITI’ to a five-digit number, such as 90999.  The sender’s donation will show up as a charge on a subsequent wireless phone statement.

Mobile giving, which blossomed after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, is used by hundreds of legitimate charities, but also offers scammers a new way to steal money from donors and victims, according to Connecticut Better Business Bureau President, Paulette Scarpetti.

“The technology itself is not risky for donors, but it can shorten the timeframe that people have to ensure that their mobile donation is going towards a legitimate charity.  Fake charities often fool donors by using names that resemble trustworthy charities or use texting numbers that may be one digit different from an established fundraising organization.”

Connecticut Better Business Bureau offers the following tips to help donors ensure their gifts reach their intended destination:

Select your own charity: Donors can avoid most scams and risks by choosing a charity themselves, rather than responding to a solicitation in an e-mail, on a lookalike Web site or over the telephone.  Law enforcement officials caution some of the sham Web sites and e-mails are set up to download malicious software through an attachment or hyperlink, as well as steal credit and debit card numbers.

Verify the legitimacy of charities: The Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance evaluates charities’ adherence to 20 BBB Standards for Charity Accountability. The BBB Wise Giving Alliance Web site, www.bbb.org/charity, produces reports that detail whether a charity meets those standards, and include information on organizations’ governance, finances, fundraising practices, donor privacy and whether any complaints have been filed against them.  

Be skeptical: Some appeals on social network sites and Web pages purport to be from surviving earthquake victims, but the legitimacy of such claims is difficult or impossible to verify.

Select a safe payment method: Pay with a credit or debit card or check made out to the charity – not an individual.  Steer clear of charities that only accept donations sent by wire transfer, and do not give out personal information other than what is required for your method of payment.

Review the fine print:  When you give to a charity through a text message, you might also be signing yourself up to receive future text message updates from the charity. A charity should include the details of its text campaign on its Web site so you can see what you’re signing up for and steps to take to opt out.

Text donations pros and cons: Texting a gift speeds up the process of donating, however it is one of the slowest ways of actually getting money to the victims, in part, because the donation isn’t processed until the text donor’s monthly wireless statement is paid.  The Red Cross says texted donations may take as long as three months to be transferred to a designated charity.

The F.B.I. has a Web site to coordinate fraud complaints and offer other tips on safe giving, at www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel10/haiti011810.htm.