What Scams To Watch Out For When It Comes To Donating To 2011 Japan Relief Tsunami Earthquake

When I saw the news last week of another earthquake in Japan it just shook my heart. The first thing I thought about was I hope no one is hurt or has died. I sit and continue to watch and the news stated that there were hundreds dead so far, and then eventually that number went up, such devastation. It broke my heart, I can’t even imagine what it is like to be in the middle of tsunami earthquake.


Losing loved ones, losing homes and the town you grew up in or begin to love just destroyed in seconds. From what I’ve heard there are now 10,000 deaths reported so far and they think that that number may rise. I just cannot comprehend the grief that is going on right now, it is too much to bare.

The Tsunami that had occurred in Haiti left thousands and thousands of people homeless, morning for their loved ones, starving and devastated. It is a cruel act of mother nature and some say it is the world preparing to end, but no one knows that but the man above.

Beware! Steve from Better Business Bureau says:

With all of this going on scammers have the nerve to take advantage of those who want to help from the kindness of their heart by donating money or volunteering. With such tragedy going on such as this when others are in need, scammers try to fraud you and steal your money that is meant to go to those who really need it.

If you plan on donating that is so beautiful and God will bless you greatly for it. I want to warn you, you need to be careful. Here are some scams to watch out for and avoid being scammed so that the money you give will go to charity of your choice and not in the hands of criminals.

Be careful who you donate to, make sure the charity is legit, to do this go to the Better Business Bureau website to checkout the organization.

Do your research with the charity before donating to the Japan Relief.

Watch out for texting to donate, especially on Facebook. Facebook has a lot of fraudulent texting numbers that will scam you out of your money.

If the organization does not have a .org at the end of the website address it could be a scam. Watch out for .com at the end of website addresses when it comes to charity organizations.

Beware of door to door charity! Don’t give out any money, red flag is if they do not have any receipts to give you as proof of payment.

This is a perfect opportunity for scams to take place, so look out for social networking sites. People on these social sites will make up a charity to fraud you out of your credit card number and money. Identity theft will be at a all time high during times like this.

Don’t donate using your Paypal account, this is a slick way to get a hold of your account.

You should know: During the Haiti tragedy there were 4,000 charity frauds that had stolen thousands of dollars from people.

Remember: before you donate money do your research and checkout the organization at www.bbb.org. Right now AT&T is offering free texting and calling to Japan.