Charity scams claim to aid Sandy victims
Editor's note: For a list of legitimate charities and other ways to help Sandy victims from CNN's Impact Your World team, check outCNN.com/Impact
As the Northeast digs out from a second major storm in little more than a week, experts say Internet scam artists are preying on generous Americans who want to donate to the victims of Superstorm Sandy.
According to a Maryland-based Internet watchdog company, more than 1,000 Internet domain sites with the words "Sandy" or "relief" were registered either as the storm was approaching the Caribbean last week or, in some cases, even before the hurricane hit.
"We have no idea who these people are," Johannes Ulrich, president of SANS Security told CNN from his home in Jacksonville, Florida. "And what we notice is that they do register hundreds of these domains, in part, trying to trick people who go to these domains and then donate the money.
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Post by: Drew Griffin and David Fitzpatrick Filed under: Charity Investigation • Hurricane Sandy • Special Investigations Unit |
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Someone please inform me how to see this story on the internet. I am very interested since I have been trying to get my husbands benefits for 11 years.
"Going to programs" does not mean going to the needy. Programs often pay big wages.The Red Cross pays its execs. as though they were mega-corp officers. It has large dinners following drives. It is an inefficient mess that benefits its employees. It needs an accountant to investigate how much of the money goes to wages, contractors, and salaries.
There is no doubt that some people are always vultures. Unfortunately this story and the man who should know provides absolutely NO information that would be useful. For instance which of these new sites are scams and which are not? Supposition and guesswork are not helpful to any one. Especially when coming from a supposedly internet security business. Give to local charities for maximum impact such as the Red Cross or Catholic Charities.
What is needed most is help to get electricity restored. Of course, cable will be hung from poles again instead of buried underground where it would be safer.
Too bad..very sad. I only donate to the Red Cross and Salvation Army on-line sites. And I don't follow links to get to those sites, but have their URL's saved and 'go there' manually.