Cyber begging: An all time low in scams

One of the newest online rages is ‘cyber begging’ Whatever you call it, it boils down to cyber panhandling or Internet begging. The way it works is that, instead of standing on a street corner, down and out people or scammers do their panhandling online.

A few years ago, cyber begging was seen as not much more than a gimmick to make a quick buck. Now it's become big business. Yahoo! and Google both have entire directories devoted to online panhandling in which they show page after page of people with needs and dreams ("Please Help This Diabetic," "Make Me Richer Than Bill Gates," "I Like Meat But Can't Afford It"). And by now, cyber begging has become so mainstream; there are sites where those seeking cash can connect, get advice and advertise their needs.

“Help Me So I Can Help My Mom…” reads one cyber beggar. The cyber panhandler goes on to say that “One week ago my Mom (she is 72 years old) lost one of her legs to diabetes. All of our savings have been taken by hospital bills and treatments to try and save the other leg before the amputation.”

Begslist is one of the few free cyber begging and online panhandling sites that offers a way for people in need to practice online begging and great donation website for good Samaritans who will fall for any scam to give to those who they believe need it. SaveMeSites.com is another free site that allows users to post their needs and ask for donations. It has provided a forum for more than 16,000 panhandlers; about 3,500 of them are using free Web pages on the site. Some of the begging sites, including CyberBeg.com and DonateMoney2Me.com charge a membership fee. They charge scammers money to post a message ‘asking’ for money. Here's a good one: At the dubious Millionairehelp.org, you can pay $35 to post your plea for six months or $99 for a full year. Get the discount while you can.

Online and Internet begging has the clear advantage to in-person begging and panhandling on the street because it can be practiced with relative anonymity, thereby eliminating or reducing the shame and embarrassment with begging in public.

Steve Donahue, the Webmaster of SaveMeSites.com, says he set it up in response to all those pay sites, which he believes are scams. He believes that too many people are putting their money into panhandling online. He's seen thousands of people come and go without making a dime.

"I don't think it works anymore," he says with a sigh. "It really doesn't. One of the scammers got about 13 thousand dollars, and nobody since then has made anything like that kind of money. If you see a few people who make a few hundred dollars, they're doing good."

That doesn't stop people from asking. On his site, Donohue sees users begging for donations so their cars and homes won't be repossessed. He's also got people requesting money for college, vacations and plastic surgery. Log on and search through the list: "Help, help, help a desperate widow save her home" is listed just above "Need help with my cockatiel vet bills."

The sheer volume of requests is overwhelming. If you clicked and read each one it would take a week. And this is just one site. People are on the verge of losing their electricity, their cars, their homes an/or their health.

Of course, some of the most heartbreaking requests are also the most suspicious. Donohue says he has no way of knowing which users are telling the truth and which are running a scam. He said, "I figure about 10 percent are made up. I think most people looking for help are decent. If you're on the Internet begging for help, you're probably pretty desperate."

Of course, there are scams all over the Internet. And now lots of those scammers are zoning in on the desperate. Donohue's site lists about 50 scammers he's identified recently. They are people who are currently preying on panhandlers with fake promises of money and misleading offers of help.

Cyber begging has gotten serious. It's gotten organized. It's got scammers. But there's only so much money and goodwill to go around, especially among strangers online. You wonder: Is it going to collapse under the weight of its own need?
If we didn't have the Web, would some of these Internet panhandlers be standing on street corners? Collecting spare change under bridges? Is this phenomenon the result of a shaky economy and an Internet-savvy population?

Lee Rainie is the founding director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project, which releases all kinds of fascinating studies about Americans' Internet use. He says cyber begging is just a small part of the many ways we're using the Web to try to help each other. He may be right. Remember what happened after Hurricane Katrina? On Web sites all over the Net, people started offering and asking for assistance. People were bypassing traditional relief organizations and doing do-it-yourself relief.

The fact is that it's not enough to just ‘ask’ anymore. The need is so great and there's so much competition, that Internet panhandlers are forced to offer something in return.

Sometimes it’s entertainment. Look at Christine Kent Web site. To raise money for an animal charity, she set up a Web site----SaveBuster.com and wrote in the voice of her cat. And she made more than $1,000 from highly amused strangers.

Here are some examples of outright begging on the Internet.

My name is Krystal and I would like to invite you all to visit my website www.Helpsavekrystal.com I am a real person in need of some help. Please take a moment to pass on my site address to your friends and family. Thank you very much. God bless you.

Hello: I am Dorcas and I am writing this because I do not know what else to do... I just found a job after looking for one for the past 3 months. I finally found one (I had to move because of an abusive marriage). I am 3 months behind on my rent at 600.00 per month and my gas is off 220.00. I also have an electric bill of 300.00. I also need help with food. Anything would help, God Bless

I am a hard working, single mom who has been struggling to keep the bills paid, and my son in a school that meet his needs. I've been searching for work I can transition into, after being in several accidents and sustaining injuries that directly effect my ability to paint and restore houses. I just found out about a course to become a Nationally Certified Sustainable Building Advisor. The catch is it starts next week and costs $2,000. I can't afford to wait another year to get a new career going. My debts have been piling up, my teeth need extensive work, neither my son or I have health insurance, and my body can't take much more of the intense physical demands of my work. I know with my experience and this certification I can provide a better life for us, as well as be able to give back.

I am a young lady from Africa. l am looking for help to send my brothers and my sisters plus my elder brothers' children to school. my parents are very old and cannot provide for themselves. This has been made because my three brothers passed away due to HIV/AIDS leaving 11 children in my parents' hands. l would like to give these children education but l can't do that on my salary only. l would really appreciate any help towards this. May God bless you all.

Melissa Bachilla always managed to get by on her own until this Christmas season. The 35-year-old unemployed Las Vegas mother realized she didn't have enough money to buy her daughter any presents. So for the first time in her life, Bachilla posted a plea on Craigslist. It reads:

In the past I have given to many charities. This year I'm unemployed and wanted any kind of help getting information on how to sign up for toys or some kind of charity for Christmas. My daughter is 12 so I'm not sure if we can get any help due to her age. But it's worth a try. Thank you.

Bachilla continues; "I'm not looking for money," "I just want help finding a bike for my daughter. I went to a thrift store, but the bikes there were $45. That's a lot of money for me right now."

Melissa Bachilla is hoping that someone who sees her Craigslist ad will help her find a bicycle to give her 12-year-old-daughter, Natalie, for Christmas.

Since placing the ad a week ago, she has had just three responses. One directed her to an area food bank, which Baschilla says she intends to visit. So far, however, no one has come forward with a bike.

Over the past decade, hundreds of sites have popped up on the Internet that provide people like Bachilla with a place to make direct appeals for assistance. Cyberbeg, Begslist and DonateMoney2Me are just some of sites where people in need can post unscreened, unedited ads.

Those making direct appeals tell of medical problems, home foreclosures, lost jobs and deadbeat dads. Similar stories are heard on the streets of major U.S. cities every day. Online begging, however, is more anonymous. In fact, on sites like Cyberbeg, donations are made via PayPal, so the beggar and benefactor don't have to correspond, much less meet.

That anonymity also makes the arrangement ripe for potential fraud. Unlike a trusted umbrella organization like the United Way, none of the begging Web sites vouches for the authenticity of the people who post there. And the ads tend to blur together, a catalog of hard-luck stories that makes discerning the truly needy from the truly opportunistic that much more difficult.

I can’t help but wonder if these people are really simply scamming people out of their money. Years ago in Toronto, there was a woman who the media referred to as the Shaking Lady. She would stand on street corners, with her body shaking and her hand out. It was later discovered that she was a rich woman who simply scammed money from passersby.

Recently, a woman in Oakville, Ontario pretended that she was suffering from cancer and managed to scam as much as $20,000 from people who were duped.

Isn’t this somewhat similar to the old Nigerian scams? First came the sob story and then the proposal. In these begging scams I am now writing about, first comes the sob story and then the begging.

Some of these people may be in dire need but the problem is; which of them are and which of them are simply making attempts at scamming people out of their money so that the scammers can get richer without having to work for it.