Consider the Following News Stories
Ripped from the headlines! Non-Profits in the news
If your organization accepts online donations, you should consider the following stories.
According to Michael Ward, director of marketing at Public Interest Registry (PIR), there's been a dramatic increase in the number of .ORG domain name registrants that are either intentionally or unintentionally letting their domains expire. He said this has opened the door for domain names to be snatched up by cyber-squatters, which holds serious and troubling implications for the previous owners, typically nonprofit organizations.
This past November, PIR launched the ProtectYour.org International Public Awareness Campaign to educate registrants on the value of .ORG and the value of their domain name.
In the days after a disaster, the majority of the staff at the American Red Cross (ARC) is working feverishly to mobilize assistance and supplies to the affected areas. Meanwhile, cyber-squatters are busy ramping up as well, working equally as feverishly to profit from the charity's tied-up status and the enormous influx of donations that typically follow disasters.
"That's a huge issue for us," said Julie Ortmeier, senior legal counsel at the Washington, D.C.-based relief charity, of the prevalence of illegitimate ARC Web sites being set up by cyber-squatters. According to Ortmeier, illegitimate ARC Web sites are registered daily, but are activated much faster during times of disaster, "especially with the more nefarious Web sites, where they're clearly doing something improper, trying to funnel donations, that type of thing."
Ortmeier said she's been working for years to reverse the charity's status as a poster child for domain name abuse, but the abuses persist - and broaden. "It's a combination of our domain names expiring (and being snatched up by cyber-squatters)," said Ortmeier, "and them using variations on our names."[1]
Non-profit organizations are receiving donations from stolen credit cards, according to computer security firm Symantec. Cyber crooks are validating lifted credit card numbers by making online transactions in the form of donations to charities and other non-profit groups. The method allows thieves to test a large volume of credit card numbers quickly.
"In the world of carding, where stolen credit card information is bought and sold," wrote Gable, "carders need to know if the credit cards they are buying or selling can actually be used. It is sometimes difficult for them to verify this without raising any alarm bells and risking that their cards will be identified as stolen and disabled."[2]
[1] Marla E. Nobles, Dot What? Domains expire and thieves are waiting, Non Profit Times, September 15, 2007
[2] Kimberly Hill, Thieves Test Credit Cards With 'Gifts' to Charities, E-Commerce Times, Part of the ECT News Network 07/10/07