TEXT to Aid Haiti

From ABC News:

If you have logged on to Facebook or Twitter since the devastating Haiti earthquake Tuesday night, it is likely you saw messages like this: "Text 'HAITI' to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts!" or, "Text 'Yele' to 501501 to donate $5 to the Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund."

While both may seem like scams, mobile giving is legitimate, convenient and really that simple. Just send a text message right from your mobile device and you have donated to relief efforts.

The donation will be billed to your wireless account -- with no need to enter credit card information, log on to a Web site or even speak to an operator.

The Red Cross effort is being coordinated by the mGive Foundation, an organization that links charities with mobile carriers to enable donors to send small dollar amounts .

"It's microdonations by millions of people, adding up to an amount that can make a difference," said Tony Aiello, senior vice president at mGive.

Aiello said that many donors see the images of the disaster on television or on the Internet and are motivated by the ease with which they can contribute.

"So many people now recognize they can use their mobile phone to donate," he said. "It's an impulse give. You don't have to be sitting in front of [a] computer and can donate a small amount of money,"

Donors are advised to pay attention and be smart to avoid scams.

Bennett Weiner, chief operating officer of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, which produces reports on more than 1,200 nationally soliciting charitable organizations, said the immediate aftermath of a tragedy is prime time for scammers to try and take advantage of people who are in a generous mood.

"Those who are seeking to take advantage will do so very quickly because they know they need to strike when the iron is hot," he said.

In the first 24 hours after the earthquake in Haiti, the FBI already had received a handful of complaints about Web sites that could be fraudulent.

During major disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia, Internet con artists took advantage of the human tragedy and the public's willingness to donate by sending out spam e-mails and engineering phishing attacks with spoof e-mails and Web sites seeking "donations."

Weiner added that any questions about appeals that raise red flags can be directed to the BBB Wise Giving Alliance (www.bbb.org/charity).