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TSUNAMI DISASTER RELIEF FRAUD ALERT!
Don’t be scammed.
Criminals are using email and websites to siphon charitable
contributions for tsunami victims into their own pockets.
What kind of schemes?
1. False websites have been established that pretend to be
legitimate relief organizations asking for donations—one of
which contains an imbedded Trojan exploit that can infect
your computer with a virus if accessed.
2. Unsolicited incoming emails (SPAM) that offer, for a fee,
to locate loved ones who may have been a disaster victim.
3. Unsolicited emails requesting that money be deposited
in overseas banks to support the tsunami relief effort.
4. Unsolicited emails which seek personal or financial information
in an effort to retrieve large amounts of inheritance funds
tied up in relation to the tsunami disaster.
How do we know about these schemes?
Because they’re being reported to the Internet
Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
What are we doing about it?
With our partners in industry and in domestic and international
law enforcement, we are aggressively pursuing those attempting
to victimize philanthropic individuals.
What can YOU do about it?
The IC3 has good advice, consistent with previous advice
on incidents of Phishing/Spoofing and Identity Theft. If you’re
considering on-line options for providing funding to this
relief effort:
- Do not respond to any unsolicited (SPAM) incoming emails.
- Be skeptical of individuals claiming to be surviving victims
or foreign government officials asking for help in placing
large sums of money in overseas bank accounts.
- To ensure that contributions to U.S. based non-profit organizations
are used for intended purposes, go directly to recognized
charities and aid organizations websites, as opposed to
following a link to another site.
- Try to verify the legitimacy of non-profit organizations
(e.g., use Internet-based resources to help confirm the
existence of the organization and its non-profit status).
- Be leery of emails that claim to show pictures of the disaster
areas in attached files, as the files may contain viruses.
Only open attachments from known senders.
Several variations of this scam are currently in circulation.
Anyone who has received an email referencing the above information
or anyone who may have been a victim of this or a similar
incident should notify the IC3
via the website, www.ic3.gov.
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