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Beware of Donation Scams
The American Red Cross will solicit donations during times of
disaster and before disasters strike to ensure that relief funds are ready
when needed.
Please take care to ensure that each donation you make goes
directly to the American Red Cross through a national or local office. Beware:
Here are some of the most recent scam scenarios.
Military
Casualty Phone Scam
Scenario:
A person calls a military spouse, claims to be with the Red Cross, states
that the spouse's husband/wife was hurt on duty overseas and, can't be treated
without
proper paperwork.
The caller then asks for the military member's social security
number and
date of birth.
The Red Cross does not report casualty information
to military families.
The Department of Defense contacts families directly if a military
member has been wounded. Should any military family receive such a call, they
should report it to their local Family Readiness Group or Military Personnel
Flight.
Read
more...
News Coverage:
News
Channel 8 Tampa - Military Scams
Romanian
E-mail Scam
Scenario: An
email claims
that the Red Cross, in collaboration with the Romania Government, is asking
for donations to help the people in Tecuci, Romania, and asks
you to make a wire transfer of over $100 to a bank account in Romania;
or for donations under $100 to use a Pay Pal account addressed as redcross@representative.com.
This is an email scam using the American Red
Cross brand. The American Red Cross does not advertise for donations to be sent
to a Romanian Bank account.
If you received this email, treat it with caution. To avoid
becoming a victim of fraud, do not forward any personal information in response
to unsolicited and suspicious emails. .
Read
more...
Myanmar
Relief E-mail Scam
Scenario:
Communications
are circulating via e-mail confirming that the American Red Cross will
be donating $5 million aid to the victims of Myanmar. It then asks for
donations to help save lives. It advocates that you make the donations
by clicking on the web page, contacting them by an e-mail account or dialing
a telephone number.
None of these contacts are affiliated with the American
Red Cross.
The American Red Cross does not advertise for donations
using a yahoo domain as a contact address. This
is an email scam using the American Red
Cross brand, and the Internet Crime Complaint Center
of the FBI has been notified.
If you received this email, treat it with caution.
To avoid becoming a victim of fraud, do not forward
any personal information in response to unsolicited
and suspicious emails.