It should be easy to spot these scammers
Their pants are on fire.
The California wildfire disaster, like so many other tragedies involving loss of life, has become the subject of an online scam. If the history of incidents like the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster and Hurricane Katrina is anything to go by, fire-themed malware is likely to follow. Net security firm Websense reports that its …
I was thinking about this the other day, and as long as the wording was done correctly, you could do something like this completely legally.
Have a whole site with information about the fires, etc. Death toll, acres burned, etc. Then you have a page that invites people to donate to those in need and put in a little notice that "those in need" does not necessarily refer to fire victims. Then funnel all the cash from those people still silly enough to donate money to you, right into your bank account. Hey, you're in need....of a new TV.
As long as you didn't claim to be collecting donations FOR THE FIRE VICTIMS, it seems to me you could do something like this quite legally.
Yeah, I'm a sick bastard. I know.