Fake charity / disaster relief donation phishing — Red Cross / UNICEF / Salvation Army impersonation soliciting urgent donations after disasters; FTC 2024: $24M+ in charity scam losses; spikes within 24h of every major disaster declaration

Phishing emails impersonating major charity and humanitarian organizations — Red Cross, UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, or disaster-specific funds (hurricane relief, earthquake relief, wildfire fund) — soliciting urgent donations after a natural disaster, conflict, or public emergency. Funds sent go to the attacker rather than victims. Key facts: (1) FTC 2024: Americans reported $24M+ in charity scam losses; the FTC and FEMA both document a surge in charity fraud within 24 hours of every major disaster declaration, exploiting the public's impulse to help; (2) Charity impersonation scams are structurally identical to legitimate appeals — same brand names, same emotional appeals, same urgency — making them among the hardest consumer scams to recognize; (3) The fastest indicator of a charity scam is the sender domain: real appeals from the Red Cross come from redcross.org, UNICEF from unicef.org — any deviation to a lookalike or free email provider is definitive; (4) Payment method is the other reliable indicator: legitimate charities accept credit cards through their own site and send receipts — scammers demand wire transfer, Zelle, gift cards, or cryptocurrency. Warning signs: non-brand sender domain, urgent disaster appeal, wire/Zelle/gift-card payment requested, no mailing address or EIN in the email.