Heroes and Villains

We have seen the very best and the very worst of human nature during the Australian Bushfires. I live 215 km from the beautiful Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia and when the fires were at their worst, the oppressive smoke and ash outside was overwhelming. 

The Ravine Fire has burned almost half of the area of the island, over 210,000 hectares (519,000 acres) or 48 per cent.

Despite the abundance of imagery and stories available on social media and the news, when you are so close and yet so far away the urge to help is strong. 

Our core humanity is shining through with random acts of kindness, millions of dollars being donated by everyday Aussies and the giving of whatever is needed to people and animals.

There are heroes and villains in every story and sadly this one is no different as for some the urge to scam, loot, lie, cheat and deceive is equal to the urge to help. The villains are phishing using social engineering techniques with fake charity donation sites luring you in and stealing your money.

On 6 January the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) sent out an alert to businesses warning them to be on the lookout for scams. Scamwatch has reported there has been 425 reports of bushfire scams since September 2019. Despite this, there are still reports of villains taking advantage of this situation.

Here are 3 tips to ensure your money goes where you intended it to and avoid being deceived.

1. Exercise caution in handling any email with a bushfire-related subject line, attachments, or hyperlinks.
2. Avoid donating over the phone, in response to an SMS or door to door appeals.
3. Before you donate - search the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) for legitimate charities.

This kind of social engineering takes advantage of people’s kindness. Any organisation can help its people recognise and manage this problem through some new-school security awareness training.

Don’t let the villains win. We can all be heroes and take a few minutes to verify who we are donating to as those affected by the bushfires need our support.

Until next time.

JJ