Gustav has passed and it seems like it wasn't as bad as it could have been. One positive aspect to it all was the emergency responders, who were on top of it this time. They really did a first-class job of ensuring the public's safety and deserve to be commended for their efforts.
Unfortunately, this might not be the case with everyone who was preparing for the worst Gustav might have dished out. Cyber criminals appear to have been positioning themselves on the Internet to divert as much of the relief money as they could get away with. And although it wasn't as bad as it could have been, we might still see these crooks try to take advantage of the situation.
Gary Warner, who is a blogger and computer forensics research type, recently posted a list of names that appear as if they might be used to impersonate Gustav relief efforts on his blog. Some of the potential fraud domain names listed include contributiongustav.org, donategustav.org, donationgustav.org, gustav-relief.org, gustavassistance.org, gustavattorney.com, gustavclaims.net, gustavcontribution.org, gustavhelpers.org and gustavlawsuit.com. Many more of these domains can be seen on his blog post.
Gary also pointed to interesting package deal of domain names being offered on eBay. The seller has a 94.1 percent approval rating on eBay and offers to give 10 percent of the purchase price to a charity of the buyer's choice. Additionally, he assures anyone bidding on these names that their user ID will be kept private.
eBay isn't the only e-commerce place selling these domain names; I found some on DNForum.com, also. In fact, DomainPulse.com is reporting that 100 names related to Gustav were registered in less than 48 hours.
The good folks at the SANS Internet Storm Center are also keeping an eye on this activity and have an interesting diary going on about it. They are asking that anyone with any further information about this send them a quick note so they can stay on top of the subject and hopefully report it to the federal authorities.
Article comments
1 - Joanne Huspek
Thanks for the tips. It's terrible that anyone would take advantage of a crisis in this way. I find it's best to investigate the charity thoroughly before making a donation.