With Typhoon Haiyan in the news, one may see many requests for help. Some people have the time to help overseas and head over, but the rest of us may feel inclined to donate to support the cause. If you feel like donating, here are some things that we recommend to ensure the money goes to the right cause.

  1. Watch out for e-mails. Most of the time, people will pretend to pose as others who claim to support the cause and accept donations. When people request money through e-mail, many times it will be fake. If someone ever asks for your banking info or provides you with theirs (i.e. Western Union, etc.), assume that it is not legitimate. Do not respond to or support these e-mails. Even the ones forwarded by friends and family.
  2. People should always look out for misspelling and improper grammar. Most of the time, scammers cannot write a proper e-mail or website.
  3. Be wary of social media links. When you are on the site, please take a few extra steps to look at the address bar to make sure that you are donating to a reputable organization and not an illegitimate website.
  4. If you do donate money to support Haiyan relief, think about supporting organizations that you know are legitimate. I am not affiliated with this organization, but the Red Cross and UNICEF are examples of reputable organizations to donate to ensure you will support the victims of Haiyan.
  5. When you are donating, ensure that the website uses SSL/HTTPS. All you have to do is look in your address bar and make sure you have “https://” in it. This will rule out donating to many illegitimate causes.

We just want to make sure that, if you donate, your money goes to the right cause. Please take these tips as advice and you can avoid getting scammed. At Net Force, we wish the survivors of Haiyan well and we hope you have a wonderful day.