It is bad enough that the inhabitants of the greater Houston metropolitan area, as well as huge swath of Texas, have experienced one of the worst natural disasters to ever befall the United States. But now, just as the sun is beginning to shine on the Lone Star State, the lowest of the low have begun to crawl out on the internet to take advantage of their suffering.
Yep, that’s right. There are already dozens of sleazebag web sites and email campaigns out there attempting to cash in on unsuspecting Americans who want to donate to relief efforts after the devastating hurricane. It never ceases to confound me that there are such technologically gifted individuals who feel it necessary to enrich their thieving lives by creating bogus web sites.
According to leading security investigator Brian Krebs (https://krebsonsecurity.com), “The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued an alert on Monday urging consumers to be on the lookout for a potential surge in charity scams. The FTC advises those who wish to donate to stick to charities they know, and to be on the lookout for charities or relief web sites that seem to have sprung up overnight in response to current events.”
The advice that Krebs offers includes this helpful note. “The FTC also warns consumers not to assume that a charity message posted on social media is legitimate, and urges folks to research the organization before donating by visiting charity evaluation sites, such as Charity Navigator (https://www.charitynavigator.org/).”
I have taken a look, and the Charity Navigator web site has links to a handful of local Texas-based organizations that can directly use the funds if anyone wishes to donate. While I was there, I reviewed their rating of the Red Cross. I had to stop for a moment and say, “Wait, what?” Sure enough, they are not ranked high because their overall administrative costs are out of line with most other organizations. And, as I discovered with some additional research, the funds you donate on their site for this event may not necessarily be used for hurricane relief. Suffice it to say: You’ve been warned.