Want to help fight Ebola? Careful where you donate

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- There's a warning of a different kind on the Ebola crisis. For those looking to make a donation to help fight this deadly disease, experts warn to make sure your do your homework first before giving to the cause.

Anytime a crisis of this magnitude strikes, many generous people will open their wallets to provide aid. But unfortunately, scammers are out there, too, looking to take advantage of the situation to earn a quick buck. But there are steps you can take to make sure your funds go to the right group.

"Texans in particular have been very generous in supporting our efforts in this outbreak," said Karen Turney with U.S. Funds for United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

Turney tells us donations have increased over the past month. She says it's important to know who you're giving to, no matter what the cause.

"I encourage people to support organizations like that. Ask the tough questions, what are organizations doing on the ground to help," Turney said.

UNICEF is one of many overseas helping to fight this deadly disease.

"If supporters donate to our Ebola relief effort, every donation will be matched dollar for dollar," she said.

And according to Leah Napoliello with the Houston Better Business Bureau, it's important to know who you're supporting.

"Whenever a disaster or crisis occurs, unfortunately the scammers are going to be online. And they're going to be trying to take advantage of people," Napoliello said.

Napoliello says there are red flags to watch out for.

"Scammers will be contacting via email as well trying to get you to donate to their fake website rather to a legitimate group," she said.

Websites like the Better Business Bureau or Charity Navigator are great resources to help you research organizations you're thinking of supporting.

"You want to watch out for any charity that's spending less than 65 percent on their programs. And also in this case, you want to be careful when giving to a group that is not really experienced in disaster relief," Napoliello said.

And recently, a support page was setup for Nina Pham, the first nurse in Dallas diagnosed with Ebola. It was setup through the crowd-funding site Go Fund Me. According to Texas Health Resources, that page is official and funds will go toward Nina and her family.

But according to the BBB, more of these individual funding sites supporting other Ebola victims could develop soon. They say just make sure you know who you're supporting, before donating.