Previous Story
Public warned of donation scam
|
Posted on Jan 10 2005
By Marconi Calindas
Reporter
The American Red Cross NMI Chapter is warning the public to practice due diligence when donating money for the tsunami victims in southern Asia, in the wake of reports of scams being perpetrated by unscrupulous individuals and groups.
Hirsh warns people in the CNMI to be very cautious when extending their assistance, especially for the tsunami victims.
“The best guidance I can give in terms of donating money to relief organization is for you to do some research first and find the well established organizations,” he said.
This comes soon after police officials in Hong Kong warned residents of an e-mail hoax that was distributed online about a donation drive for the tsunami victims. E-mails claiming to be from the British-based relief organization Oxfam was sent out urging people to donate money for the tsunami victims. The e-mails claim to be from a local branch of Oxfam and asked donors to deposit money into a bank account in Cyprus. Police stressed that the messages should be ignored.
Oxfam Hong Kong spokeswoman Christy Ko said in a report that the e-mails were an attempt to extort money from people at a time of tragedy. However, she said this has not affected the agency’s credibility in raising funds for relief efforts.
To avoid such scams, Hirsh said donations should be made to the American Red Cross, Oxfam, Unicef and other groups that have been around 20 to 30 years.
“I would warn the public to avoid new groups in the Internet, no matter how compelling the pictures they are showing,” Hirsh said. “People should be very wary of that.”
He stressed that the public should consider a relief agency with a track record.
He said there are a lot of worthwhile relief organizations extending great assistance and work throughout Asia and the world and “all you need to do is an hour of research.”
