Member-only story
The smoke from the Australian bushfires has been drifting through my home in Canberra for weeks. We have been breathing in this muck at super-hazardous levels. On the other side of the Tasman Sea, my New Zealand friends have been reporting haze and orange skies and the tang of burnt eucalyptus. And now it has floated across the Pacific and reached South America.
Looters are moving in to scout homes abandoned by their owners. Many areas have been partially evacuated, and if you are sitting in an evacuation centre several hundred kilometres away, you aren’t at home safeguarding your valuables. Opportunity comes knocking at night with torches and crowbars.
The news is full of generous people raising money for bushfire relief. Amongst all the news of devastation and disaster, it is heartwarming to hear of donors around the world chipping in to help.
Sadly, some of these fundraisers are not what they seem. Scammers are using the tragedy to subvert donations into their own pockets.
I’m too smart to fall for such tricks!
But are you?
