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Bluto
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Registered: May 2003
Local time: 08:40 PM
Location: Delta House
Posts: 17634
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Ah, makes you feel all warm inside...
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Tsunami Charity Scam Warnings Issued
Wed Jan 5, 3:07 PM ET U.S. National - AP
By KEN THOMAS, Associated Press Writer
MIAMI - With private donations pouring into charities, law enforcement officials say scam artists claiming to represent tsunami relief organizations are using e-mails and telephone calls to attempt to steal donations and swipe donors' identities.
Several states and consumer watchdog agencies have issued warnings in recent days, noting that an outpouring of generosity for victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami has opened the door for con artists who want to prey upon American philanthropy.
"We don't want someone who is charitable and is supportive of the victims over there to become a victim of identity theft," said Bob Breeden, who heads the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's computer crimes center.
Agency officials alerted residents Tuesday after they learned of an e-mail purportedly sent by a British group called "The Foundation for Victims of Flood and Earthquake" and another requesting aid to the "Tsunamis Disaster Help Funds."
"With sympathy and heavy laden hearts, we hereby appeal to your sense of generosity to assist by donating any amount you can afford," the latter group wrote in an e-mail. Florida officials said the e-mails appeared to be suspicious and patterned after fraudulent appeals for donations in the past.
Breeden said the agency had not received any complaints but wanted to be "ahead of the curve" on potential scams after learning that a British man had pleaded guilty to sending phony e-mails telling people that their missing loved ones had died in the tsunamis.
Florida officials said the solicitations could be misrepresenting their intentions seeking donations and be "phishing scams." Under these schemes, e-mails are used to trick recipients into providing personal information such as credit card and Social Security (news - web sites) numbers, addresses and other information that could put them at risk of identity fraud.
Similar warnings have been issued in Alabama, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island and Washington state. The Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau have also weighed in with tips on how to properly assess charities before making a donation.
"If you run a Google search on tsunami and contribute, you'll come up with over 60,000 sites," said North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem. "Many of them are brand new sites, and they're not well established. People need to be careful."
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office encouraged people to donate directly to charities instead of dealing with telemarketers who keep a large portion of the proceeds they raise.
"We're asking people to donate only to charities they know and trust, rather than something set up in a piecemeal fashion," said Spitzer spokesman Paul Larrabee.
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-HECK!
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01-06-2005 04:32 AM
