Taking advantage of other people’s misfortune and fears certainly isn’t a new concept. But it is a concept that is spreading — all the way to the U.S. House.
As was expected, the recent disaster in Haiti had scam artists ready to take action. Within 24 hours of the massive quake, the first spam scam e-mails were reported. There also reports of phone calls from people claiming to be survivors of the disaster or family members of survivors asking for money.
Mental images that come to mind when I think of Haiti right now don’t include Haitians sitting around on their cell phones dialing random numbers to ask for help.
I would like to think if someone called me, they wouldn’t get too much further than “Hey, I am a survivor in Haiti” before either I hang up or try to collect information in an effort to report it to authorities.
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