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SCUM: Haiti Disaster Attracts Hoaxes and Scammers: "

There’s a word for it: sad. Even in the wake of a disaster the magnitude of the Haiti earthquake, some individuals feel the need to play hoaxes or — even worse — try to scam their way into an actual profit off the tragedy.

CNN reports on the hoax meme that spread like wildfire on Twitter over the last 24 hours, alleging that American Airlines would be flying doctors and nurses to Haiti for free. The official AA Twitter account debunked that myth, prompting a second wave of retweets about the hoax.

Going even farther down the scumbag rabbit hole, Switched reports via FOX News that some scammers are actually setting up fake charitable organizations to collect “donations.” Both “text-to-donate” scams and unsolicited e-mail donation scams appear to be sadly common after global disasters — the FTC issued consumer alerts about the practice as far back as 2007.

This shouldn’t deter you from donating to Haiti relief — but it should warn you to take extra precautions to make sure you’re giving to a legitimate source. The Red Cross has now raised $4 million in its text-to-donate campaign. Native Haitian Wyclef Jean’s Yele organization is another legitimate outlet for donations (text “YELE” to 501501 to send $5).

via mashable