It’s an unfortunate fact of modern life, but donation requests from fraudulent charitable organizations commonly appear after major natural disasters.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released an alert on scams that cite the recent flooding in Louisiana, including emails with links or attachments to phishing or malware-infected websites.
Take these common-sense measures to protect yourself:
- Review the FTC alert and its information on Charity Scams.
- Don’t follow unsolicited web links or attachments in email messages.
- Keep antivirus software up-to-date.
- Check this Better Business Bureau list for helping Louisiana flood victims before you consider making a donation.
- Contact the charity organization directly, rather than responding to an email. Find trusted contact information for many charities on the National Charity Report Index.
- This US-Cert webpage has tips for Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks .