Symantec asks Haiti donors to follow best practices

BANGALORE, INDIA: People all over the world are currently feeling a great deal of sympathy for the people of Haiti, who were recently hit by a severe earthquake. Humanitarian aid is being offered by many countries around the globe, and aid charities are looking for donations so that they can send all the help they can.

And then there are people who don’t want to help and will use any means to try and get those donations. '419' advance fee fraud scams are common and the perpetrators are always looking for new attention-grabbing topics which will trick people into handing over their money. Something like 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 that they won’t see through the scam email which they are reading. The desire to help can often cloud a person's good judgment.

Cyber-scammers are quick to prey on people’s emotions with bogus e-mails and phony Web sites devised to steal what should have been charitable donations. We’re already seeing online scams crop up around the Haitian earthquake including spam e-mails soliciting donations, and poison search results that can infect computers with malware.

Symantec Security experts urge computer users to follow best practices to help stay safe online, and ensure donations and support reach the victims of this catastrophe and not the scammers.

Best Practices:

When donating to a charity online, always remember:

    * Avoid clicking on suspicious links in email or IM messages as these may be links to spoofed Web sites.

    * Symantec security experts suggest typing Web addresses, such as those from a charitable organization, directly into the browser rather than clicking on links within messages.

    * Never fill out forms in messages that ask for personal or financial information or passwords. A reputable charitable organization is unlikely to ask for your personal details via e-mail. When in doubt, contact the organization in question via an independent, trusted mechanism, such as a verified telephone number, or a known Internet address that you type into a new browser window (do not click or cut and paste from a link in the message).