FBI Warns: Many Tsunami Relief Pleas Are Fake 353
lgrinberg writes "Even in the face of terrible disasters such as the Tsunami that hit South East Asia and Africa in late December, many are finding ways to take advantage of it and make money off of it. An example is fake websites that claim to be non-profit charitable organizations that help out the victims when they really take all the money for themselves. Other instances are emails or websites written by people who claim to be survivors of the disaster and are asking for help. The FBI warns that many of these are fake and recommends people to help via known non-profit organizations."
You'd think it would go without saying.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Is there some sort of university program I'm not aware of, pumping out mindless peons by the thousands each year so they can make the same mistake as others did last year? Apart from Hamburger University of course..
Then again, University of Miami law professor Enrique Fernandez-Barros [miami.com] somehow managed to become part of a 419 scam in which $1.68 million got lost...
Leviathan Blood Money Surfaces (Score:5, Interesting)
Fraudulent claims (Score:5, Interesting)
Education (Score:3, Interesting)
This is one of those "ounce of prevention vs. pound of cure" things. If we spend a little bit of money up front to put out TV and radio advertisements, it seems that the government would have to spend far less money investigating these assholes and helping victims of this sort of fraud. If K-12 schools taught kids how to detect online b.s. and community colleges featured this sort of instruction as part of entry-level computer classes, it could go a long way toward minimizing the negative economic impact of the broad range of Internet fraud.
But of course current thinking in the United States is an extreme form of caveat emptor, so I'm just engaging in wishful thinking.
Acts of God (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Salvation Army (Score:5, Interesting)
How would I know where their money goes? They refuse to file financial reports [charitynavigator.org] like most charities by claiming a religious exemption. I demand transparency before any charitable organization reasonably expect any cash from me.
The AIP did eventually get the Salvation Army to do some disclosure [charitywatch.org], but it was back in 1998. But other religious charities, like Christian Aid [charitynavigator.org] regularly release their financial statements without a hassle.
Charities exist in a privilaged place in tax law that can easily be abused [animalrights.net]. So, with the privilage of not paying taxes, charities need to be transparent with their finances. The Salvation Army's use of religious exemption is unacceptable.
Re:Salvation Army (Score:3, Interesting)
Assist those in acute need, and let them make their own decisions and help them help themselves in working out of chronic troubles.
Money, Aid, and Internet Porn (Score:3, Interesting)
- The Debts Owed
- Western banks are holding huge debts that these countries can't realisticly repay. The greedy bankers want asian relief so that they'll have a slim chance of seeing their money again. They'd probably be equally happy with telethons asking for sympathetic viewers to help out by pledging money to pay off these huge burdens but they aren't talking of writing off these debts (only of freezing interest or temporarily restructuring payment schedules).
- The Massive Organizations of Relief
- The best of these agencies have large administrations that need service aid. They need IT upgrades in their luxurious administrative headquarters. They need new parking decks. In the late nineties I volunteered to help a large non-profit in Atlanta for a day. I had all sorts of ideas about cost saving Linux installs, but my job was to act as upgrade boy migrating users to some Windows 98 service pack. The small organizations have trouble doing much but the larger ones are bloated and wasteful of their resources.
- The elite in charge
- There stories of elite hotels and expansive mansions being washed away give me the impression that much of the rebuilding and relief will be wasted on reconstructing the property of the elite rather than basic necessities for the common man.
- Lack of follow through
- A friend who works with a local church based charity said that they ask for money when crises like this arise. They don't say that all donations will go to help those victims. Like a sweepstakes they give out X amount of money when they've taken in 100X.
I'd almost given up on the idea of sending any money to a charity based on these misgivings. What changed my mind was, oddly enough, a plea on the blog of a amateur pornographic model that I follow. His familial ties to the area caused him sincere grief over the incident and he had selected Oxfam America as the charity he was asking people to give money to. I still have all of these reservations about donating money, but the difference was in hearing a voice I was familiar with make a recommendation of a "least bad" charity to donate to.It's really odd when I think about it, but a personal message put out over the internet reached me far deeper than our President's cynical call for (bank) aid, or my church's call for extra donations in the collection basket, or the endless streams of impersonal pleadings that I've seen on television. I guess that's the real power of the internet to raise money... the personal touch... and if some goes astray (as I feel in my gut that it will) I feel much less disgusted with myself for my action.
Re:How can they sleep at night...? (Score:3, Interesting)
Psychopaths are more dangerous in some ways but are easier to spot (the obligatory chainsaw is a dead giveaway.) Sociopaths, on the other hand, generally do more damage overall because they are very good at protective coloration (i.e., "fitting in") making them very difficult to detect. Significantly, the more capable sociopaths in most societies achieve a degree of success that is denied to their more "moral" counterparts. Frequently we see monikers such as "head of state" or "corporate leader" applied to them, at least up until the arraignment.
Re:Giving intelligently (Score:3, Interesting)
Personally, I usually go with Red Cross [redcross.org] & Catholic Relief Services [catholicrelief.org].. And please, no argument about donating to a religious charity, it's my choice.
In the back of my mind there is always the fear that some self-righteous warlord will object to US charities helping those he considers his people, so I sometimes lean to charities not directly associated with the US.
There is too much politics in the world... witness the "US is stingy, not giving enough" followed by the "US is giving too much, they want to buy friends in the area" soap operas. No matter what you do, you can never win with some idiots. I understand that people are frustrated, but some people should just shut the f*ck up and tend to the tragedy instead of playing politics!
And what the hell is with Kofi Annan and all these idiots (yes, US too) who must "tour" the devastated areas. What the hell can they contribute?
It makes me sick... Middle-eastern countries, rich in oil, are contributing crap, and they are supposed to look out for their "muslim brothers". Saudi Arabia, $30 mil? The royal family has this much change in their couch cushions!
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/159/story_15913_
Quotes:
"In her January 1 op-ed in Jordan's Addustour, Ayida al-Najjar wonders whether the tsunami left an opening for America to "wash its face and appear cleaner, more sincere, and beautiful" to the Islamic world. The U.S. may see its aid to the Indian Ocean nations as a remedy for the political ruptures its foreign policies have created in the Islamic world"
"Tapping into some of the wild rumors that are circulating around the Internet, in English and Arabic, Mahmud al-Busayfi wondered in Libya's al-Jamahiria on January 4 whether the tsunami was "a reactionary result of the terrible American bombing in Afghanistan and Iraq?" "
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/review/article
Yes, whining about Bush taking 3 days to work the logistics, but not a word about Mr. Annan continuing his vacation [dailytimes.com.pk] for three days after the tsunami hit..
Re:Money, Aid, and Internet Porn (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:UH DUH! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:How can they sleep at night...? (Score:2, Interesting)
Only then would he demand one made from expensive materials.
Or a shrubbery.
How One Phisher Got Phucked (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:What does it take to not be an asshole? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Salvation Army (Score:2, Interesting)
The Salvation Army is an integral part of the Christian Church, although distinctive in government and practice. The Army's doctrine follows the mainstream of Christian belief and its articles of faith emphasise God's saving purposes. Its objects are 'the advancement of the Christian religion... of education, the relief of poverty, and other charitable objects beneficial to society or the community of mankind as a whole.'