Swindlers Hard At Work

Tom Zeller, Jr, of the New York Times wrote an article called 'After The Storm, The Swindlers'. They definitely are at work! Some even started on August 28, before the storm. Intent on getting the 'business' at the onset, Internet domains were bought up, and some even set up PayPal for 'convenience' to the people giving. The online frauds began to show up within hours of the hurricane, according to Scambusters.org, a clearinghouse for information on various online scams.

Many states have swindlers, but others from overseas are also being investigated. More fraud has been seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina than when the Tsunami hit Southeast Asia. Over 2,300 Web sites are up and running, some legitimate and some not, and rising every day.

There are also email scams going on. The subject will be something such as 'hurricane news update', directing you to sites that are capable of infecting your computer with a virus, and hackers can gain control of your computer. There is much phishing going on, as well. A site in Brazil has been uncovered that lured unsuspecting people to give out all their credit card information to what they thought was a legitimate Red Cross site. Then they were directed to the real Red Cross site, making the maneuver hard to detect.

If you give, be wise. Make sure you are giving to a legitimate organization. Check them out before letting go of any credit card information, or you might find yourself in the shape others have found themselves - snookered into a scam.

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