RALEIGH, N.C. – In the wake of one of the worst natural disasters to hit Hawaii, scammers are preying on the generosity and goodwill of others who are trying to help.

Meredith Radford with the Better Business Bureau advises potential donors to do their research before giving money or items to charities or causes.

“Unfortunately, after any sort of major public tragedy or natural disaster, we always see an increase of scammers trying to take advantage of people's emotions,” Radford said. “Basically, they want to go after your money or your information or both, which is pretty much always their goal. And unfortunately, when emotions are really high, that's a time when people can be taken advantage of.”

She says red flags are vague claims and appeals toward charities, if they’re not specific about where the money is going and how they allocate it or if they send unsolicited messages or emails.

The organization warns to be wary of crowdfunding as well, because not all sites are legitimate.

“It's pretty easy these days to take photos from other people's social media and use them for your own purposes to try to scam people,” Radford said. “So, you really have to be careful with sites like that to make sure that the money again is going where you want it to go.”

She recommends that donors take the time to look into requests for help. 

“Because emotions are high, you might want to act really quickly, but scammers want to take advantage of that. They're always trying to catch people off guard,” Radford said. 

You can visit Give.org to see whether a charity meets the BBB accountability standards.