September 15, 2001

11:01 AM

I hope the intentions of the people publishing websites like this are honorable but I fear they may not be. In the last hour I have received three email messages soliciting money for 'disaster victims'. Here is one in its entirety (inside as a comment) Call me me crazy, but this sounds like a scam to me. I have no idea who any of these people are, but they have either questionable motives or questionable judgement or both. What causes people to prey on others generosity during such a terrible time?
posted by fbeach (13 comments total)

There is no reason to start your own fund. There are many, easy ways to donate directly to the organizations themselves. It also fragments the donations and opens the possibility for fraud. I am NOT saying this is a fraud but I think there are better ways of helping out.
posted by dewelch at 11:12 AM on September 15, 2001

is it necessary to post that long a message on the front page?
posted by username at 11:14 AM on September 15, 2001

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RELIEF FUND

Good Morning Mike Ferry Organization Customers and Prospects,

Sitting here today, looking at the devastation that we have all had to experience, my wife Cathy came up with an incredible idea. If every one of our customers and prospects sent one dollar, five dollars or whatever they are comfortable with, we could start a relief fund immediately for all the families that are left without husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sisters or brothers because of these attacks.

I will deposit $5,000 in that account which will be a relief fund for these families. Here is what I am asking from each of you. Whether it be $1.00, $5.00 or $10.00, put it in an envelope and send it to my company as soon as possible and we will deposit it within that account and hopefully within a week, we as a group, can raise at least several hundred thousand dollars for these families. Unfortunately, this will not be tax deductible for you and we are not going to send any kind of a receipt because I do not want funds used for that type of activity.

We will be talking to several charities within the next few days to decide which charity would benefit families with the most needs. Don’t procrastinate…send it immediately. If you send me a check, make it out to the Mike Ferry Organization and I will endorse it and put it in that account. I think as a group we can make at least a little bit of a difference.

Mike

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posted by mathowie at 11:33 AM on September 15, 2001

"is it necessary to post that long a message on the front page?"

whiner.
posted by jcterminal at 11:40 AM on September 15, 2001

yeah, this looks like a big red flag to me.

There are so many other places out there on the web, and in the communities that are soliciting funds. I am sure that if you have it in your heart, you can find a more reputable fund to go to... what is Amazon up to now? a: $5,543,126.00 [bravo]
posted by hotdoughnutsnow at 11:41 AM on September 15, 2001

I would have to say that anyone setting up their own individual donation fund online will, unfortunately, have to be regarded as suspect. The PayPal and Amazon donation sites are certainly sufficient for making donations online. In addition, there are certainly established funds at all major banks and credit unions for those who wish to do so. There is no reason for individuals to establish their own relief funds. Even if their intentions are noble, they certainly seek to benefit ... in the form of tax write-offs for any lump-sum donations they make to non-profit relief agencies such as the Red Cross. Certainly they have no plans to itemize each donation for the purpose of routing any tax credits to the individual donors.
posted by tpoh.org at 11:49 AM on September 15, 2001

People prey on others emotions all the time. I remember when my younger brother was eight, he shaved his head and went around begging money door to door for the National Leukemia Foundation. He got enough money to buy himself a NES. He's never had cancer, and as far as I know, no one ever caught on that he was a fraud.
posted by Katy Action at 11:56 AM on September 15, 2001

say what?
posted by ColdChef at 12:04 PM on September 15, 2001

...we are not going to send any kind of a receipt because I do not want funds used for that type of activity.

Yowza. How's that for tacky?
posted by ook at 12:10 PM on September 15, 2001

I believe this is the most reliable place to learn where to legitimately contribute.
posted by Spork65 at 12:45 PM on September 15, 2001

"Unfortunately, this will not be tax deductible for you and we are not going to send any kind of a receipt because I do not want funds used for that type of activity." WTF? Make a donation and still give up your legitimate right to a tax deduction? Scam scam scam. No receipt/deduction because it's unreported and not going to an approved chairity.
posted by sixdifferentways at 9:31 PM on September 15, 2001

I treat emails sent to me asking for money like the telemarketers who call my answering machine and use my full name, ignore them.
posted by slowlightning at 10:33 PM on September 15, 2001

By all means, I concur with tpoh.

The Amazon paypage is linked from amazom.com, and seems to be going up slightly more than a million dollars a day... which says something about the power and importance of the Internet in today's America.

I hope it's something that starts getting noted by the people who have to make prioritization decisions about allowing diesel trucks and repair crews into some of the telecom hotels near the site...
posted by baylink at 11:56 PM on September 15, 2001