Natural disasters like Superstorm Sandy always bring out the people who want to help, but they also bring out the crooks looking to cash in on people who want to donate.
As Superstorm Sandy flooded the East Coast, donation websites flooded the Internet, but can you really trust whose on the other side of your screen?
"When times are tough the crooks get going," says retired FBI agent, Dan Payne.
Retired FBI agent Dan Payne says typically when a disaster hits scam artists try to cash in on the people wanting to help.
"They're going to want to get their credit card information, that's the worst thing you can give out to someone that's unknown, because not only can it take the money that you supposedly donated, but they can take your credit card and establish identity theft with it," says Payne.
Like criminals did with Paul Amadon, who learned his lesson the hard way.
"They're cons out there that are going to work you and just take your money...I was a victim of one, so I'm not going to do that again," says Paul Amadon, a cyber scam victim.
"These people know which strings to pull emotionally on a person to forget about common sense," says Payne.
If you fall for it, with a click of button you can be a victim too.
"You see, text to this number and it will automatically charge your phone bill 10 bucks 20 bucks or whatever, and that's a goldmine for these scammers," says Payne.
The FBI headquarters in Los Angeles tells Central Coast News scam artists don't only solicit victims online but via telephone or email.
