Due to the impact and financial loss of Hurricane Harvey, many unscrupulous individuals may seek to take advantage of those looking to donate to the disaster victims. This practice is often referred to as “phishing”. Phishing is the practice of sending fraudulent emails while masquerading as a reputable company. These emails are sent in order to induce an individual to reveal personal information, such as financial information and passwords.
In addition, it’s likely that many fraudulent pages will be created on websites such as Facebook, Twitter and other popular social media sites. These pages may be featured in emails asking for donations to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey. Donations made to these false pages and deceptive sites will not be received by credible agencies or even go towards the victims. Instead these funds will often go directly into the pockets of the scammers soliciting the donation.
We urge you to be on your guard against any of these scams and suggest that you go directly to the website of the charity you’d like to make a donation to. We also discourage you from clicking on any links in emails that you suspect originated from those practicing these unethical scams. Remember to always think before you click.