SC Magazine has reported on how the recent natural disasters in Myanmar (also known as Burma) and China have led to various scams to steal money intended for donations.Reporter Sue Marquette Poremba reports that “not only are websites being hacked to redirect funds meant for legitimate organizations, as had happened during Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, but now scammers are also using text messages to ask potential donors to wire money to a certain account.
Other scams include SMS’ suggesting that recipients could help the aid agencies by just calling or sending a text message. When responding the donor may unwittingly be dialing up a premium rate number or subscribing to a premium rate SMS service that will persist in debiting money from their mobile account balance until they unsubscribe.
Mr Van Horenbeeck a security expert with Message Labs, said he thinks these types of attacks will increase “as the barrier to responding to a text message is very low, there will initially be quite a few people that may feel inclined to support the cause by sending a quick reply,” he said. “There’s a much lower investment in sending a message, and people are likely to react. The same goes for text messages, where requesting people to contact ‘for-a-fee’ numbers can actually constitute direct payment. Essentially, the loop for the attacker between sending his message and getting revenue shortens.”
Here is the link to the official Disasters Emergency Committee who really do need your support
Donations can be made at any High Street Bank or Post Office quoting Freepay number:1643, by calling the automated donation line 0870 60 60 900 (24 hours a day). In the UK you can also text the word DONATE to 83696 to make a £1.50 donation.
