Officials Warn Of Charity Scams After Hurricane Helene
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Ryan K. Buchanan is warning the public to be wary of charity scams amid ongoing relief efforts following Hurricane Helene.
“Natural disasters unfailingly prompt members of our communities to respond with an outpouring of compassion and support for impacted family members, neighbors, friends and strangers,” Buchanan said in a statement Tuesday. “Unfortunately, these occurrences also attract scammers who capitalize on such calamities to exploit affected fellow citizens when they are most vulnerable."
Hurricane Helene made landfall on the Gulf Coast of Florida on September 26, and carved a path of historic flooding through Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee. Hurricane Milton is also expected to make landfall on October 9 in areas of Western Florida before traveling across the state in the days following.
The U.S. Attorney's Office is advising members of the public to exercise diligence before giving money to anyone soliciting donations for hurricane relief efforts, or individuals offering assistance. Solicitations may be made via phone calls, texts, social media, email, door-to-door collections, flyers, mailings and other methods.
Donations should be made directly to known organizations, rather than relying on other individuals to make the contribution on your behalf, officials warn. People are advised to avoid cash donations if possible, and warned not to be pressured into giving, as reputable organizations would not use pressuring tactics. Reputable organizations also do not typically solicit donations via wire transfers.
"Do not respond to any unsolicited communications (e.g., e-mails and texts), and never click links contained within those messages because they may be targeting your personal information, to include bank and credit card account information, and other identifiers such as dates of birth and social security numbers," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
People should also beware of emails that claim to show images of the disaster areas in attached files, as the files may contain viruses.
Rather than clicking on a purported link to a charity, people should verify the charity's legitimacy by searching other online resources. Some scammers seek to imitate reputable charities with similar copycat names.
The National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) was established by the Department of Justice following Hurricane Katrina in order to deter and prosecute fraudsters seeking to profit from natural disasters. Members of the public should report suspected fraudulent activity related to relief operations and funding for victims online at www.justice.gov/DisasterComplaintForm or by calling a 24-hour NCDF hotline at (866) 720-5721.
Story via TMX