Warning signs

Watch out for scammers 'collecting' for the Victorian Bushfire tragedy:

The warning signs include:

• the charity is not known or is well-known but the scam is operating via a fake website, letters or emails
• the collector tries to use pressure to elicit a 'donation'
• the collector cannot or will not give you details about the charity, such as its full name, address or phone number
• the collector becomes defensive over questions about what the charity does and how much of the donation gets taken up by costs
• the collector asks for cash, won't accept a cheque or asks for any cheque to be made out to them; online collectors will insist on cash money transfers
• the collector doesn't want to provide a receipt or the receipt does not have the charity's details on it.

In recent years, scammers have hit the internet to solicit funds. During the Canberra bushfire recovery, a hoax email was circulated in which it was claimed a British man living in Dubai had a dying wish to give $15 million to the victims of the Canberra bushfires. In this case, there was a claim that if the email recipient helped him distribute it, they could keep five per cent, or $750,000, plus expenses.

Michael suggests contribting via the Salvation Army - Donations can be made online at www.salvationarmy.org or by calling 0800 53 00 00.

Donations can also be posted to:
The Salvation Army
PO Box 27001
Marion Square
Wellington 6164.

Remember to specify that the donation is for the Australian Bushfire Appeal.