We have the makings of a man-made tragedy right in the middle of an ongoing natural catastrophe.
The devastation following the 7.0-magnitute earthquake that struck the nation of Haiti Jan. 12 is almost unimaginable in its scope. Current estimates show approximately 80% of the capital city of Port-au-Prince has been reduced to rubble and its populace decimated. Tens of thousands may have died.
We are seeing the effect of that disaster right here in Dover, with cargo aircraft from Dover Air Force Base being sent to Haiti and staging areas nearby with equipment needed to support relief operations.
Locally, churches and other charities are gathering supplies to be sent to Port-au-Prince.
In the Dover area at least, these are all good organizations, with good altruistic people behind the effort. A Zogby poll, released Jan. 18, shows at least two-thirds of American adults plan to donate toward the relief effort and there’s no reason to doubt Delawareans will do their part.
But for every 10 or 20 altruistic individuals working to help, there’s someone simply looking to line his or her own pockets. It seems sometimes there’s no limit to greed or to man ability to capitalize on the suffering of others.
Already, earthquake relief scams have surfaced. They reach us by many avenues, but particularly by phone and the Internet. Some started within 24 hours of the first reports of the quake; many resemble the familiar Nigerian letter scam or resemble requests from legitimate aid groups. Scammers may say they are working for UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders or even the Red Cross. At least one has invoked the name of Haitian-American musician Wyclef Jean, who is sponsoring a genuine relief effort.
The FBI issued a warning about new scams the day after the earthquake, and advised of some rules for dealing with these hucksters. They’re logical rules, ones we should always follow when receiving requests for money: verify the legitimacy of who is asking for money; do not open links contained in unsolicited emails; be skeptical of people representing themselves as survivors of the disaster or government representatives.
The most important, of course, is never give out personal or financial information to anyone; you could find your bank balance quickly reduced to zero.
Above all, FBI officials advise, carefully check out any organization you plan to make donations to and make contributions directly to those organizations.
Additional information on these scams and how to counter them is at www.fbi.gov/cyberinvest/escams.htm.
In some regards, these scammers are no better than the looters scavenging collapsed stores and supermarkets throughout the earthquake zone. Perhaps the latter’s actions may be excused somewhat by the overriding need to find food and clean water.
There is no excuse, however, for someone sitting comfortably at his laptop working to steal money from those in need or those whose hearts reach out to them.
