Have you gotten unsolicited email asking for a donation to help victims of Hurricane Katrina or with news about the disaster? If so, you may have been the target of a scam. Anti-spam software for Outlook can help thwart these by spam stopping in outlook express.
Charity Spam
One hurricane-related scam involves requests for donations to bogus charities. Spammers send email claiming they are providing aid to victims and directing you to websites that look legitimate, reference well-known charities, or have names that sound similar to well-known, legitimate, and respected charitable organizations. In fact, the spammers keep most — or all — of the money they collect for themselves. You can employ a free ware outlook spam filter to help block these.
If you get an email that interests you in helping those affected by the Hurricane, the FTC has these tips to help you give wisely. It is also recommened to have anti-spam software for Outlook or spam inspector for outlook to block them.
Give to recognized charities you have given to before. Be on the alert for charities that seem to have sprung up overnight. They may be well-meaning, but they lack the infrastructure to provide assistance.
Give directly to the charity, not to the solicitors for the charity. Solicitors take a part of the proceeds to cover their costs and that leaves less for victim assistance.
Do not give out personal or financial information — including your Social Security number or credit card and bank account numbers — to anyone who solicits a contribution from you. Scam artists use this information to commit fraud against you. Never send cash: there’s no way to make sure that the organization got your donation. Make sure to put these folks in your spam black list for outlook.
Check out any charities before you give. Contact the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance at www.give.org.
Be certain to use anti-spam software for Outlook or a good outlook spam plugin to reduce your chances of getting these scams.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, December 22nd, 2005 at 6:54 am and is filed under Outlook Spam Filter.
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