Haiti donations delayed by fears of fraud

Banks, fearful that thieves are using charity donations to establish if the cards they have stolen can still be used, are blocking perfectly legitimate payments intended for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

Estella Baker, a customer in the U.K. with what is now reputedly the world's largest banking group, HSBC, is one of those frustrated with the fact that the donation she wanted to see used to help the people of Haiti at the earliest opportunity could not get through after her bank's security system flagged up her card transaction as a possible attempt at fraud. She told the BBC:

They told me they had done this because I hadn't used that website before. But recently I have used a lot of websites and made credit card payments some for larger sums than that and none has been blocked

HSBC informed the BBC that the "vast majority of customers' donations to charities are made successfully" with only cards with "a suspicious pattern of transactions" being affected. Andrew Goodwill, a director with The 3rd Man, a fraud screening company based in Southern England, clarified why it is that banks adopt policies similar to the one which has frustrated Ms Baker, and what the public should do if they encounter a problem. He said:

When a credit card fraudster compromises your card he will want to test that card to see if it works. So he will make a small donation through a charity website because there are no goods to be delivered and if it does works he can then go on and use it on other sites. Banks are blocking donations to charities and it is absolutely ridiculous because at this time that is what people want to do to show their support. Ring your card company and tell them that you are really annoyed and make sure they take the block off so you can use the card

Meanwhile both ABC17 News and the Miami Herald reported that as of Thursday/Friday the FBI and experts in the security industry had found that more than 400 new Internet addresses had been set up since the earthquake struck, supposedly in order to accept donations. Joel Esler, a security expert with the U.S.-based Internet Storm Center, which is operated by the SANS (SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security) Institute, emphasized that many of the new Web addresses will prove to be perfectly genuine attempts to help the survivors of the earthquake but, mindful that previous disasters had been hijacked by fraudsters and citing the FBI as one of those organizations providing advice, the Miami Herald issued the following guidelines for people wishing to donate to Haiti who want to ensure their money reaches the survivors in Haiti and that they are not exposed to malicious software, spyware or other "hazardous content". - Don't clink on links or attachments contained in unsolicited emails - Visit the Better Business Bureau (http://www.bbb.org), the Foundation Center (http://foundationcenter.org) or Charity Navigator (http://www.CharityNavigator.org) to confirm that an organization is genuinely involved in the aid effort - Be wary of Web addresses ending in numbers or with .com rather than .org - Exercise caution if you are asked for more than just your basic details. If you are asked for your Social Security number, birth date or bank account and pin information someone may well be attempting to steal your identity. Speaking to ABC17 News Jim Judge, Director of Charity Information Service with the Better Business Bureau, an organization dedicated to creating and maintaining "An ethical marketplace where buyers and sellers can trust each other" in the U.S. and Canada, added that the public should ensure a website address begins "http". And the Internet is apparently not the only medium being used by fraudsters trying to take advantage of the tragedy in Haiti, Doug Ommen, Chief Counsel of Consumer Protection with Missouri's Attorney General's Office, explaining:

It's important they get the solicitation in writing, there are a lot of scam artists that will get on the telephone and through telemarketers will commit misrepresentation and fraud

Further information to help the public avoid fraudsters and decide which charity to donate to has been provided by the New York Times on its Haiti Earthquake Recovery Facebook page. Under the heading Beware of Haiti Earthquake Fraud can be found reiteration of the FBI's advice on how to avoid scams and fraud, as well as a list of charities considered to be the most efficient in providing assistance to Haiti.