kanalpakkangal.blogspirit.com [ கனல் பக்கங்கள் ]

 The following articles is written by an American Management Consultant Kathy Wells Paauw . I wondered how people are cheating after a natural disaster. In my last vist to Kanyakumari I have heard that many people become millionairs suddenly by syphoning the relief donations. This articles discusses the American Situation- Chella

 

My heart is very heavy right now.  In addition to adjusting to being an empty-nester, I've been watching hours of televised coverage and reading about the completely inadequate response by our elected officials to the largest natural disaster in US history.  I'm sad, angry, disappointed, and ashamed that the richest nation on earth has failed our most vulnerable citizens  -- the poorest of the poor and the sick. My heart goes out to those heroic relief workers who are doing their level best to rescue the victims or provide essentials and medical care with so little resources and in such a dangerous environment.

Rather than focusing on where to point blame for the woefully inadequate response, I choose to focus on what I can do to help to the hundreds of thousands of people who feel utterly devastated as they try to put their shattered lives back together. 

A colleague and client of mine lives in New Orleans. Although her home is still dry and sustained only minor damage (she is among the 20% minority), her city is gone and she cannot return home.  Her business as she knew it is gone. She has moved in with her parents in a city two hours from her home, and she is sorting out her options.  And she is one of the "lucky" ones.

One of the things that makes America so great is our ability to give so generously in times of need.  Although this disaster seems bigger than life, I hope you don't give in to thinking you can't do enough to make a difference. You can and will make a difference!   If each of us does something, we will make a huge difference...even if each of us only makes a difference to one person.  Imagine if you were that one person.

Take action that goes above and beyond what you've ever done
before. Go outside of your comfort zone. Write a bigger check or open your home to someone who has lost theirs.  If you don't have material resources to share, donate your time or services or put on a fundraiser.

If you want to help but are not sure how, here are a few well-established legitimate organizations you can donate to (and your donation will be tax-deductible):

• American Red Cross
• MercyCorps
• Salvation Army USA

A National Emergency Resource Registry has been created to register people who stand ready to provide housing, transportation, services, food, and personal items to victims of the disaster.  If you want to help, go to www.nerr.gov to learn how, or click here to register. The NERR stands ready to assist the coordination efforts between the resources that are needed and the resources that may be available from the private and public sectors.   If you or your organization / agency / corporation have resources or services that may be made available to the response agencies, please list them in this Resource Registry.

SCAM ALERT

Whenever there is a major disaster, scammers begin taking advantage by sending out charity relief scams.  Online scammers continue to join the looters as more of the Hurricane Katrina scams make their way around the Net.

With all of the devastation, we are already seeing many kinds of scams specific to Hurricane Katrina.  Here are some scams to watch out for:

• Chain letters: According to Anne Mitchell, aka Aunty Spam, the first email hoax was a request to forward the hoax because fifty cents would supposedly be donated to help victims for every copy of the email forwarded.

 

• Phishing scams: According to the Washington Post, a number of fraudulent websites have already been set up pretending to be legitimate Hurricane Katrina relief organizations. These sites request charitable donations, but in fact steal financial information and may be used for identity theft as well. Contributions, of course, go into the pockets of the scammers rather than to help people who desperately need it.

 

• New viruses and trojans: Spam is sent that includes photos of disaster areas or individual survivors, and these attachments contain computer viruses.  For example, the Trojan, Cgab, is now related to a Hurricane Katrina email that is making the rounds. It provides full access to the victim's PC. According to CNN Money, the email headlines include: "Re: g8 Tropical storm flooded New Orleans" and "Re: g7 80 percent of our city underwater."

 

• Investment and security scams: According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), emails are already making the rounds that tout specific stocks on the basis of activity related to Hurricane Katrina.  For example, one email says that investors could more than double their money in just days on certain penny stocks because of "refinery glitches."

 

• Misleading emails trying to take advantage of the disaster to sell unrelated products.  For example, I saw one that was trying to sell Viagra.  The subjet line read "80 percent of our city underwater" and went on to describe the devastation.  When you click on the "read more" it takes you to a Viagra site.

 

• Requests for individual donations to help their family members: One spam message of this type had two different spellings of the scammer's first name!  Only give to individuals if you personally know and trust the source requesting the assistance.