Agape Blog

Fortunately, many people like to give with an open heart to help others in need. Tragic incidents that have made victims of everyday people pull at people’s heartstrings. Images of people who have lost their homes and possessions to natural disasters cause others to want to help.

The desire to help other people is a good instinct. Unfortunately, criminals use their sympathy for their own personal gain. Criminals take advantage of good will by illegally soliciting contributions. Criminals claiming to represent legitimate charitable organizations solicit money to help people in need. This money does not make it to the disaster victims though.

Charity fraud takes advantage of kind hearted people who want to do something to help people affected by the natural disasters around the world. Fake charity scams often set up quasi-legitimate agencies so that, at first glance, they look real; they may also name themselves something similar to other legitimate charities. They may even carry ‘ID’ in the name of the charity, complete with a logo.

Scams and frauds have always been a problem. But in the last decade or so, charity fraud has come up that has started to devastate legitimate charities. Charity fraud is another method of parting people from their money. There are several scams that solicit donations for alleged victims of floods, severe storms, wildfires, tornadoes and earthquakes, but be careful of the fraudulent charity scams.

The following fundraising techniques are questionable and, in some cases, illegal:

• Chain letters: Unsolicited appeals, usually in the form of emails, ask potential donors not only to contribute to an organization but also to forward the email to friends and family members.
• Unsolicited gifts: Usually just tokens, these “gifts” are enclosed in direct mail solicitations to make the recipient feel obligated to give something back.
• Emotional appeals: Either verbal or written, they often involve graphic descriptions of need to play on sympathy of potential donors.
• High-pressure tactics: A solicitor urges the potential donor to give money (usually cash) immediately, before he or she has a chance to review information.
• Spam email: These unsolicited emails are sent to many people at once and often contain an emotional appeal and links to a website where potential donors can make an instant online donation using a credit card.
• Sound-alike names: Fraudulent charities take names that are very similar to those of high-profile charities that are known and trusted by the public.
• Deceptive bills and invoices: These claim that an amount is owed or promised to a particular charity when no such commitment was made.

It is a good instinct to help other people in need. Ensure that hard earned money is going to the people in need and not into the pockets of a scam artist. Scam artists use all of the standard methods to collect ‘donations’ for their charity scams — tables at the local mall, going door-to-door, email, and telemarketing etc.

However, here are 10 tips to help spot charity scams:

1. BE WARY of every opportunity that presents itself — especially when it presents itself in the wake of some big disaster that gets lots of media attention.

2. Ask for the name, address, and phone number of the charity — and whether or not it is registered. If the presenters claim that it is registered, get a registration number. The Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance offers information about national charities.

3. Verify with the office of the charity that there is indeed a campaign going on, or that they’ve authorized the charity drive that you’re being invited to contribute to.

4. Don’t ever donate cash if you can help it. Write a check to the charity — not to the person standing in front of you. This also helps you document the donation for your records and for your tax return. And don’t give out bank information!

5. Ask what percentage of your donation goes directly to the cause. Legitimate charities will have ready answers because they are used to the question.

6. Get a receipt with the name of the charity on it.

7. Be especially cautious about getting a charity donation request by email. Most legitimate charities don’t use email for their solicitations. (Some legitimate charities will email people who have donated before — but never respond to requests where you’ve never donated.)

8. Be especially wary about charities that claim to be raising funds for the local police or firefighters. Check with them first!

9. Don’t give in to pressure or ‘guilt trips’ about ’suggested donations’ or ‘requested minimum contributions.’ Once you’ve determined that the charity is legitimate and you’ve decided you want to contribute, simply give what you can and want to give — it will be appreciated.

10. The best way we know of to avoid charity scams is to decide IN ADVANCE (while you’re doing your annual or monthly budget) which charities you’ll support and CONTACT THEM. Then you can gracefully turn anyone else down who comes your way with hat in hand.

Adnan Patel
Executive: Fraud Management Services

Paraben launches its new product Data Arrest 1.0 it is a quick acquisition tool for PCs. This tool is contained in a rugged hard drive and is designed to allow investigators to perform a triage acquisition of data from a hard drive but still adhere to basic forensic principals of data preservation. Data Arrest allows you to focus your acquisition on specific types of data you’re looking for. Simply determine the type of data you wish to acquire - from all images, to documents, to Internet files, to a full logical acquisition and more. You can do a quick forensic triage of any machine you have access to.

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Sometimes too much attention can work against an idea, diluting it to such an extent that people grow apathetic towards the message and start taking it lightly. Thanks to an unending flow of news reports, articles, discussions and media hype around the “Go Green” movement, it is running a serious risk of meeting that fate and turning into a passing fade.

Green is the hottest color in the IT industry right now with vendors scrambling to outdo each other with proclamations that their equipment is greener and more eco-friendly. The business case for green IT revolves around savings that accrue from deploying equipment that consumes less power, takes up less space, is easier to recycle, and the manufacturing of which doesn’t release hazardous substances into the environment.

One aspect of Green IT that is sometimes overlooking is the matter of e-Waste. After all, the idea of Green IT is to be environment-friendly. This is particularly horrendous problem in our country where the volumes of e-Waste generated are staggering and most of it is disposed off to the unorganized sector.

Many IT companies are claiming themselves to be green, but fail to meet with the basic compliance. The trouble is that, even today, a majority of organizations seem more interested in talking about the energy saving possibilities than doing something concrete to transform themselves into more ecologically responsible businesses. A lot of them talk so as to play to the gallery and sound politically correct, because in today’s business climate, even putting on a green façade can yield some fringe benefits.

However, there are some exceptions who believe in practicing before preaching, and AGAPE INC, a pioneer in Cyber Forensic & Security Company is surely one of those rare exceptions. In general we believe ‘walking the walk’ and not just ‘talking the talk’.

Sherwin Azavedo
Manager: Cyber Crime Complaint