We have all been moved by the events in Haiti and many of us are looking for a way to help out. Unfortunately, criminals often take our best intentions and use them against us in scams.
A popular scam regarding Haiti relief efforts is Text Donation–by texting a special word to a particular number, it takes $10 off of your bill and donates it to Haiti relief. The problem: there are hundreds of these codes floating around the internet and only some of them are legitimate.
NOTE: Not all Text Donation is a scam. Unfortunately, there are plenty, though!
How do you know which one to use? Donate only to organizations you know. Don’t respond to some Twitter post or unsolicited e-mail and go directly to a relief organization (like Red Cross at http://www.redcross.org/) and follow the directions there. Right at Red Cross’s home page, they give you the Text Donation directions. Responding to an e-mail from an organization you don’t know could be a complete scam or could significantly reduce your charitable donation with overhead costs (sometimes up to and exceeding 90%).
Make sure when you donate to an organization it goes where it is intended to by doing a little research before texting that donation.
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