Scammers prey on Haiti earthquake

Cyber criminals are exploiting the Haitian earthquake by posing as charities to defraud people of their money.

Symantec compares this tactic to the 419 advance fee fraud scams which use bogus e-mails and Web sites intended to solicit donations and infect computers with malware.

Matthew Nisbet, malware data analyst at Symantec Hosted Services, says in a statement: “The humanitarian crisis of the Haiti earthquake is, sadly, a prime target for these scammers. They count on the public's good nature, concern, and desire to help, and hope they won't see through the scam e-mail which they are reading.”

Nisbet points to a scam by a fake cyber criminal pretending to be from the British Red Cross Society. The e-mail asks for £1 000 (R12 000) and goes as far as saying it is committed to protecting the donor's privacy of information.

“General advice is that at any time you learn of an appeal for donations that you wish to contribute to, you should contact the charity directly to ensure it is a genuine appeal, and that your money really is going where you want it to,” advises Nisbet.

The FBI issued a warning saying this isn't the first time cyber criminals have preyed on natural disasters. In 2006, Steven and Bartholomew Stevens were convicted of setting up a fake Salvation Army Web site after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

KVUE.com reports that the brothers were sentenced to lengthy federal prison terms after receiving as much as $48 000 (R360 000) in donations supplied to their own bank accounts.

In 2010, spam volume is expected to rise 30% to 40% worldwide over 2009 levels, according to the Cisco 2009 annual security report. The latest 419 scams involve fraudulent posts on social networking sites and public forums.