If there was one thing I’d most wish I could smite from the Universe, it’ll be spammers as even in times when humanity is in need, they are still up to their tricks occasionally even fooling otherwise intelligent people:
Just as you wondered whether human nature could sink any lower, the spams start arriving requesting money for charities that don’t exist.
So far, we’ve seen two different examples of these, designed to capitalise on the misery of hundreds of thousands of people affected by the tsunami that swept the coasts of the Indian Ocean early this week.
They invite you to donate funds into dubious bank accounts with dubious fake “charitable names”.
So watch out for these dubious emails, and if you want to contribute, make sure you do so by giving to a recognised charity.
Emphasis mine.
So do check out whom you are donating to first before sending your much needed cash to those that actually need it. Three organisations which would be a good start are UNICEF, Oxfam or your own country’s Red Cross & Red Cresent Societies as listed on the IFRC’s portal. If you are an U.K. taxpayer, don’t forget to claim “Gift Aid” where the good old Inland Revenue will top your donation with at least 28%! Nationals of other countries should do likewise if your government offers similar schemes.
Finally, to pre-empt possible Phishing techniques or other nasties used by spammer whom are trying to capitalise on this disaster… Get Firefox to keep yourself safer from such exploits and for those with older Firefoxes, update them to the current release!