Tsunami Aid Scams – How to Avoid Them.

Posted January 17, 2005

The FBI’s nationwide crackdown on scams done in the name of tsunami relief is bearing fruit. An employed painter in Pittsburgh was arrested yesterday for a phishing scam trafficking on the reputation of Portland-based humanitarian group Mercy Corps.

Matthew Schmieder admitted to the FBI that he sent out 800,000 e-mails purportedly from Mercy Corps to trick people into sending him money through a PayPal account.

The NBC News story on Schmieder’s arrest at includes a good overview on the rapid proliferation of tsunami aid scams and offers tips on avoiding online charity scams.

Kiruba Shankar

Kiruba Shankar is CEO of Breathe Digital, a digital marketing consultancy. He is an author of 5 books, Professor of Digital Marketing and a Weekend Organic Farmer. More about him at http://Kiruba.com. Kiruba is a Professional Speaker and is the Founding President of the Professional Speakers Association of India. His Professional Speaking site is at http://Kiruba.Pro. He can be reached at +91.9841597744 or Kiruba @ Kiruba.com.