Greg Rozsa, my friend who started HelpWithKatrina.com and who has already brought tons of supplies to the homeless in and around New Orleans (you can see pictures he took on the website), receives hate mail on a daily basis.

This breaks my heart.

But what’s worst is that his website was temporarily shut down today because of complaints. Now, I acknowledge the fact that scammers are rampant and come out of the woodwork to take advantage of situations like these. But Greg is a good man with a big heart.

And there’s something else that irks me to no end…

My girlfriend said it best: “Tragedies like this bring out the best in people, and also bring out the worst.” Here’s a sampling of hate mail he’s received:

“Hi Smart Guy! USA is the super country and doesn’t need any poor individual’s contributions for Katrina releif!! So, stop doing this ’smart” thing because eveybody knows by this, you are ONLY filling your ‘pocket’!!”

“how good are your contracts if you can’t even spell simple words?”

“what about the 1000 that died in Iraq women and children?”

“You aren’t helping anyone with your weak fundraiser. There are millions being donated to “real” organizations. Step out of the way little boy, and let the pro’s handle it”

“I don’t know who you think you are, but you are wasting your time with this website. Stop it now.”

“Scumbags like you make me sick. It’s a shame you are taking advantage of a national tragedy to fill your bank account.”

Unbelievable.

Greg’s story was picked up by PR Newswire and Yahoo! News, and published on Yahoo! It’s very well documented with the proof I’ve described earlier, coupled with Greg’s already long-time good standing in the Internet community.

And now, his website is down. Apparently, some agency is investigating him for fraud. (Greg has since found out it was because of a bandwidth issue, not a scam risk. But even then, the hosting company gave contradictory responses, and should have at least notified Greg. They didn’t. And their responses were vague. Hmmm…)

What really irks me is this…

Greg has posted oodles of pictures of him and Jeff buying the food and supplies, loading up the trucks, bringing them to the homeless shelters, distributing them (and actually cooking the food for the homeless, too!), and posting copies and scans of receipts on the site — open and ready for anyone to see. You can’t be any more above board than this.

But…

… This is not so, apparently, to some people who decide to launch complaints — and then forcing companies like these to make shotgun decisions without investigation. When people complain, it creates tons of nervousness for companies — and often, these complaints, while some are genuine, are often unfounded. Here’s an example.

The biggest reason given as to why the site “appeared” like a scam is that people found the site via Google AdWords. Little do people know that the AdWords campaign was actually donated by my girlfriend, Sylvie Charrier, of Workaholics4Hire.com.

Sylvie was so peeved and incensed about the fact that Greg and Jeff were accused of being scammers simply because they were “running AdWords,” that she posted this rebuttal. The campaign was entirely paid for by her and her alone, without Greg knowing about it until lately.

And I agree with her rebuttal 100%.

For those who fail to look past the “salesletter” and “ads,” shame on you. And for those trigger-happy organizations who blindly punish generous souls without investigation and at the mere unfounded complaint…

… Shame on you. You are worse than the truly unethical and vile people who fraudulently profit in times like these — the very people you’re trying to avoid or shut down in the first place.

About the Author

Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker, consultant, and CEO of The Success Doctor, Inc. Visit his blog and signup free to get tested conversion strategies and response-boosting tips by email, along with blog updates, news, and more! Go now to http://www.michelfortin.com.

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