Haitian Earthquake Relief Fraud Alert Articles / Advisory Date: Jan 14, 2010 - 08:29 PM Haitian Earthquake Relief Fraud Alert The FBI today reminds 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. Past tragedies and natural disasters have prompted individuals with criminal intent to solicit contributions purportedly for a charitable organization and/or a good cause. Therefore, before making a donation of any kind, consumers should adhere to certain guidelines, to include the following: * Do not respond to any unsolicited (spam) incoming e-mails, including clicking links contained within those messages. * Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as surviving victims or officials asking for donations via e-mail or social networking sites. * Verify the legitimacy of nonprofit organizations by utilizing various Internet-based resources that may assist in confirming the group’s existence and its nonprofit status rather than following a purported link to the site. * Be cautious of e-mails that claim to show pictures of the disaster areas in attached files because the files may contain viruses. Only open attachments from known senders. * Make contributions directly to known organizations rather than relying on others to make the donation on your behalf to ensure contributions are received and used for intended purposes. * Do not give your personal or financial information to anyone who solicits contributions: Providing such information may compromise your identity and make you vulnerable to identity theft. Anyone who has received an e-mail referencing the above information or anyone who may have been a victim of this or a similar incident should notify the IC3 via http://www.ic3.gov/ For further information, please visit the FBI's Web site: http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel10/earthquake011310.htm This article comes from Hillsdale Police Department http://www.hillsdalepolice.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.hillsdalepolice.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=107