Hurricane Harvey Charity Scam

Any disaster—natural or manmade—brings the scammers out in full force to tug at your heart strings.

Who Is It Targeting: Consumers who want to help the residents of Texas

What Is It: Phishing scams, imposter scams

What Are They After: When the headlines show unthinkable loss and suffering due to a large-scale event, consumers rightfully want to help. Unfortunately, scammers are always ready to capitalize on it. While relief efforts are already underway for the areas of Texas that were hit by the hurricane and flooding, there are thieves waiting to steal your donations.

How Can You Avoid It:

• Only use trusted sources of charitable giving in any event.
• Remember that legitimate donations can be made on your cell phone, but that scammers can also send out genuine-looking texts requesting donations.

Find more information about current scams and alerts here. For full details of this scam check out this article from IDTheftCenter.org.

If you think you may be a victim of identity theft, contact the Identity Theft Resource Center for toll-free, no-cost assistance at (888) 400-5530.