A 36 year old Internet detective Charles Conway managed to catch hold of a fake charity portal. The fake website used to ask people for donations to help the Haiti earthquake victims. The Haiti earthquake was a calamity which led to massive destruction after it struck on January 2010.
The fake website used to e mail people press releases asking them to help the earthquake victims. They managed to accumulate huge sum of money from generous donors worldwide. The fake e mails were being sent to people using the name of a real US based charity called Mercy & Sharing Foundation. However the donation money was forwarded to an account in Eastern Europe.
Conway happened to have a look at the fake website and concluded that it was not a genuine one. He went to the address page and found that the address given was that of a pizza chain restaurant in the country and was in no way related to the charity. Finally the detective found out that the address and contact number mentioned on the site were false. Also the account name mentioned on the site was a personal savings account.
The bank account details are of Halifax bank and their authorities are looking into the matter. They also think that the bank account holder must be unaware of the fact that his account was a part of such a big scam.
This scam is one of the many money frauds that happen online. A lot of charities approach donors online and people trust the websites and donate money. However they do not know they might be getting duped at times. In order to avoid such frauds the charity commission has suggested that the donors should verify the charity registration number by visiting charitycommisssion.gov.uk.
Scammers are playing with sentiments of innocent people by committing such crimes. People should help the needy but be cautious so that their money reaches where it is meant to reach and does not end up in any fraudster’s personal bank account.
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