Scammers Exploit Humanitarian Crises: How to Stay Protected

Unfortunately, global, national, and local humanitarian crises are mostly out of our control. A hurricane or a tornado hits and wipes out an entire town. A pandemic strikes worldwide and millions are left suffering. Often, this brings out the best in humanity — common people band together to help those in need. However, crises also lift the collective rocks off of the parasitic dregs of society. Con artists and grifters have existed since the first days of civilization. Nonetheless, the dawn of the Internet ushered in new ways for these criminals to take advantage of vulnerable, hurting people. Hackers come up with creative ways to steal your personal information, and fraudulent charities arise in the wake of every widespread tragedy. Online scammers take advantage of humanitarian crises in hopes to catch people with their guards down. They play on sympathies and needs in order to make a quick, unearned buck. It’s important to know how to avoid these scammers, and how to protect your online security . Concern Worldwide defines a humanitarian crisis as “an event or series of events that represents a critical threat to the health, safety, security or wellbeing of a community or other large group of people, usually over a wide area.” Some of the crises that spark the greatest amount of online scammers include: Online scammers can take advantage of humanitarian crises in multiple ways, and tend to appear in droves in the aftermath of a man-made or natural disaster. These scammers will typically set up a fraudulent charity, along with a website and an easy clickable link for donations. At other times, online scammers will pose as reputable organizations such as the Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the United Nations, and the World Health Organization (WHO). They’re mostly after financial gain, although they may use ill-gotten gains to data mine and steal identities as well. When the COVID-19 pandemic caused a global shutdown in the Spring of 2020, scammers were quick to spring into action. In the U.S. alone, thousands of people have been arrested for criminal fraud related to the pandemic. According to NBC News , federal prosecutors call the COVID-19 scams the “largest [widespread] fraud in U.S. history.” Much of these scams came from an estimated 10% of fraudulent applicants of the Payment Protection Program (PPP) loans. The loan program provided disaster relief for small businesses. Yet many who did not need PPP loans falsified their applications and spent the money on themselves. Although the PPP loan scams didn’t target citizens, they bilked billions of dollars from the U.S. government, and prevented businesses in true need from receiving relief. Other online scams to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic include: In February 2023, President Biden introduced the Pandemic Anti-Fraud proposal that hopes to address and eradicate systemic fraud, as it helps the victims of scammers. At times, charities and disaster relief groups that seem reputable at first glance may be exposed as scams. Federal organizations such as FEMA and the FBI, and U.S. Attorney General’s offices have even issued specific warnings for consumers. Some of the most common ways online scammers take advantage of humanitarian crises include: Some online scammers are easy to spot. Their websites aren’t secure and look sloppy, their content is full of grammar and spelling errors. However, others are far more sophisticated and fool many people. So how can you protect yourself from online humanitarian fraud? There are several easy ways to prevent online fraud in any way, shape, or form, and remain alert and guard yourself against virtual kidnapping scams , bogus contractors, loan offers, and charitable scams. Steps you can take include: As long as there are humanitarian crises, online scammers will continue to take advantage of them. However, new technologies are always in development that can help you keep your vital information safe. At What is My IP Address , we’re passionate about giving you tools and vital information to help protect your online security. Check out our blog for news and tips that can go a long way to give you peace of mind when you’re online.