Go Daddy gives $250,000 to help with Hurricane Katrina relief effort. Beware of fund raising scams. The safe way to donate.

One of our worst natural disasters.
As you know, on Monday, August 29th, our Gulf Coast States were devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The damage and human suffering we are seeing so far is terrible. In fact, it appears that history will record this event as one of the worst natural disasters to ever strike our country.

Go Daddy is donating $250,000 to help with the relief effort.
To help do our part, GoDaddy.com will be donating $250,000 to AmeriCares -- a relief organization that we've worked closely with in the past. AmeriCares will be using the funds to deliver much needed supplies to the devastated areas. Supplies to be delivered include bottled water, soap, cleaning supplies, diapers, etc.

Here's how you can help out.
For those blog readers who are interested in helping, I am also providing a web page to make it easy to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. You can access this special web page by either clicking here, or by clicking on the link that appears at the top of the Go Daddy home page.

Beware of Hurricane Katrina related scams.
If you are interested in helping out with the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, I caution you to be wary of the many scams that are now surfacing. Falling prey to one of these scams not only will result in the misuse of your donation. It will also quite possibly result in the misuse of the personal information you provide the scammer at the time you make the donation.

Do not trust unsolicited emails.
In particular, you should not respond to unsolicited emails you receive, regardless of the organization they purport to be from. Relief organizations do not send unsolicited emails. If you receive an email that appears to be from a well known organization, be sure NOT to click on any links in that email. If you click on any of the links in the email, you will most likely arrive at a website that appears to be genuine. It will however not be the real thing. Instead it will be a bogus site created by a scammer for the sole purpose of stealing your personal information and misappropriating the donation your are making.

The safe way for you to donate.
To be sure your donation reaches those in need, and doesn't instead line some scammer's pockets, make sure that you know the charity you are dealing with. In many cases, it makes sense to avoid charities that you've not heard of. It also makes sense to limit your donations to well-known major charities. If you choose to donate, please to do so only after going directly to that charity's website.