Last night, I decided to check my e-mail before I left. A friend of mine, Ray, was in a bit of trouble due to his use of a computer. About six months before, Dave was in similar circumstances. The dreaded worm had caught them both.
I decided to let you on a few tips on how not to get scammed. First, major donor organizations. Here goes:
1. A good rule of thumb is their use of the word .org as a suffix. (example: www.redcross.org) The use of other suffixes (.biz, .com...) are generally suspect. (note: major political organizations are different. Check with your local organization to see if their address is genuine.)
2. In conversation words can be used with a little laxity. But NEVER with URLs. Some will try and dupe us with .usaredcross. or .americanredcross., to name a few. Only .redcross. is genuine. Here are the four that I would recommend:
www.redcross.org (United States)
www.ifrc.org (International)
www.doctorswithoutborders.org
www.rainbowfund.org
If you are thinking about making a donation, please print or write your URL now. This will save headaches later.
3. This is more of a techie thing, but make certain that you type www.ifrc.com. Otherwise you could type the wrong thing.
4. If you wish to donate outside the four that are listed, (Goodwill, Salvation Army, UNICEF, Save the Children, etc.) most of them have particular brands that they display in the telephone book or in the web. This is a generally good sign. It doesn't have to be a huge brand. It does have to be accurate.
5. Any cheap photocopying is generally NOT a good sign.
Now about donations. I will tell you what I WON'T do. I won't make e-mails. I won't make "personal appeals". I won't put appeals in a separate blog. The ONLY genuine blog for this area is emilysvirtualrocket.blogspot.com. The ONLY space I approve of is the "donate" button on the right side. The ONLY bank I approve of for these is PayPal. (not an endorsement, but simply wanting you to know where I stand)
Sorry I was so lengthy, but I hope it helps.
I decided to let you on a few tips on how not to get scammed. First, major donor organizations. Here goes:
1. A good rule of thumb is their use of the word .org as a suffix. (example: www.redcross.org) The use of other suffixes (.biz, .com...) are generally suspect. (note: major political organizations are different. Check with your local organization to see if their address is genuine.)
2. In conversation words can be used with a little laxity. But NEVER with URLs. Some will try and dupe us with .usaredcross. or .americanredcross., to name a few. Only .redcross. is genuine. Here are the four that I would recommend:
www.redcross.org (United States)
www.ifrc.org (International)
www.doctorswithoutborders.org
www.rainbowfund.org
If you are thinking about making a donation, please print or write your URL now. This will save headaches later.
3. This is more of a techie thing, but make certain that you type www.ifrc.com. Otherwise you could type the wrong thing.
4. If you wish to donate outside the four that are listed, (Goodwill, Salvation Army, UNICEF, Save the Children, etc.) most of them have particular brands that they display in the telephone book or in the web. This is a generally good sign. It doesn't have to be a huge brand. It does have to be accurate.
5. Any cheap photocopying is generally NOT a good sign.
Now about donations. I will tell you what I WON'T do. I won't make e-mails. I won't make "personal appeals". I won't put appeals in a separate blog. The ONLY genuine blog for this area is emilysvirtualrocket.blogspot.com. The ONLY space I approve of is the "donate" button on the right side. The ONLY bank I approve of for these is PayPal. (not an endorsement, but simply wanting you to know where I stand)
Sorry I was so lengthy, but I hope it helps.
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