 |
OTTAWA — The FBI and the RCMP are warning people to be careful of con artists posing as aid groups seeking donations for Haiti.
Both agencies say fraudsters have already started rolling out the scams and it will get worse in the days and weeks ahead.
“We’re trying to get out in front of the scammers because we know in situations like these, when people really need help, unfortunately the scammers come out and try to set up shop as well,” said FBI special agent Jason Pack.
The RCMP has had dozens of calls from people saying they’ve been called by people posing as representatives of legitimate aid agencies, asking for cash to be wired to bank accounts.
“Somebody will call and say they are from the Red Cross Canada asking people to wire them money,” said Cpl. Louis Robertson of the RCMP. “When they want you to wire money, you should hear alarm bells, real aid agencies don’t do that.”
Robertson says the next phase of scams will come in the form of e-mails where fraudsters take logos from real aid agencies and use them to build convincing messages asking people for credit card details.
One such e-mail scam has already started circulating. Someone claiming to be from the British Red Cross Society is sending out thousands of spam e-mails asking for donations through a Western Union money transfer.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of thousands of dollars were siphoned away from legitimate charities and into the pockets of criminals. Two brothers in Texas were eventually sentenced to eight and nine years in jail for setting up a fake Salvation Army website that managed to collect almost $50,000.
Police say the best way to avoid being scammed is to contact legitimate aid agencies directly to give donations.
peter.zimonjic@sunmedia.ca