Transcript of “Cyber Begging”
NBC 11, Jonas Tichenor, “Cover Story,” February 22, 2003

ANCHOR DIANE DWYER: We’ve all needed a little extra cash at some point, to pay the bills, get through college or maybe even buy a car. What if you could get complete strangers to step in? Now you can, right on the Internet, and it’s legal. NBC 11’s Jonas Tichenor explains in tonight’s cover story.

[Graphic: “Cover Story.”]

JONAS TICHENOR: Exotic vacations, fancy cars, jazzy jewels. There are lots of things we’d like other people to buy for us. So go ahead, set up a fund, someone’s bound to kick in the cash. People are collecting thousands of dollars through so-called “cyber begging” Web sites. Think of it as panhandling gone high-tech. There are at least 600 cyber-begging sites. There’s “Save the Suburbanites,” for the couple that needs money to travel the world. And here, Ed wants you to help pay for his dream driving machine. Then there’s Nick Howard, who just wants an education.

NICK HOWARD: The money I raise on the site will all go toward school costs, such as books, each semester, tuition.

PENNY HAWKINS: I’ve had over 300,000 hits so far.

TICHENOR: Penny Hawkins wants out of her marriage, so she launched helpmeleavemyhusband.com.

HAWKINS: I have people that write and say, “I appreciate that you’re not trying to go on welfare and take tax dollars.”

TICHENOR: More than two grand has already poured in from people like Kerry Zane.

KERRY ZANE: I’m divorced, she’s getting divorced, I am an LPN, she’s going to school to be an LPN. I sort of recognized what you might call a kindred spirit.

TICHENOR: Dr. Michael Fenichel is a cyber behavior expert. He said people like the intimacy of donating to a cyber beggar, rather than a big charity.

MICHAEL FENICHEL: People do feel more personally related when they send back an e-mail to somebody saying, “I’m sorry to hear about your dog, husband, cat, job.”

TICHENOR: But Dr. Fenichel says be careful. Some cyber sob stories are pure fiction.

FENICHEL: One should investigate before sending in one’s pension or retirement funds to somebody who makes a case that “I need it more than you do.”
[Cut to Tichenor in the newsroom.]

TICHENOR: Penny keeps donors up to date by putting her progress up on her site and she’s also got some advice if you’re planning on starting your own site. She says it takes a lot to design, and a lot of work to update a begging site. It also takes a lot of time for the money to start rolling in. I’m Jonas Tichenor, NBC 11 News.

DWYER: Yes, but it’s free money.
[END]

Compare to WSBTV's story

Panhandling Goes Hi-Tech
Clark Howard, Consumer Advisor

POSTED: 4:41 p.m. EST April 4, 2003
UPDATED: 1:05 p.m. EST April 7, 2003

ATLANTA -- If you need some extra cash would you believe you can get it from a complete stranger just by setting up a Web site and asking? This new phenomenon is called cyber begging and it is gaining in popularity.

People are collecting thousands of dollars through so-called cyber begging Web sites to finances such luxuries as exotic vacations, fancy cars and jazzy jewels. Panhandling has gone hi-tech.

There are at least 600 cyber begging sites, which are soliciting money for a range of needs. For example, one site asks for money to "Save the Suburbanites," which collects money for the couple that needs financial assistance to travel the world. Another site run by a man named Ed wants his visitors to pay for his dream driving machine.

Other sites solicit money for goals to help them improve their lives not just satisfy their material wants. There is the site run by Elaine, a struggling opera singer. Nick Howard runs a Web site asking for donations to help him obtain an education.

"The money I raise from the site will all go toward school costs such as books each semester and tuition," he said.

He said his Web site has raised $300, which can be given at his site www.sendnick2college.com.

"The average donation so far is around $5," Howard said.

Penny Hawkins, another cyber beggar, is using the Web to raise money, too.

"I've had over 300,000 hits so far," said Hawkins, who created the site to help her rebuild her life because she wants out of her marriage. She said she has received words of praise on her site, www.helpmeleavemyhusband.com.

"I have people that write and say, 'I appreciate that you're not trying to go on welfare and take tax dollars,'" she said.

She said the site has raised over $2,000 and that most people are supportive although not all.

"People think that it's not right that I'm even getting a divorce, let alone asking for money to help fund that," Hawkins said.

Kerry Zane said he thinks Hawkins' cause is worthy. So he donated money to her cause.

"I'm divorced and she's getting divorced," he said. "I am an LPN. She's going to school to be an LPN. I sort of recognized what you might call a kindred spirit."

Dr. Michael Fenichel is a cyber behavior expert who tracks how and why people interact online. He said people like the intimacy of donating to a cyber beggar instead of contributing to a big charity that is more anonymous.

"People do feel more personally related when they send back an email to somebody saying, 'I'm sorry to hear about your dog, husband, cat, job," Fenichel said.

Said Howard: "I think it gives you a good feeling to help someone else out. People are entertained by my site and they feel like it's worth a buck or two."

Hawkins is using some of the proceeds from her Web site to finance her nursing school education. She keeps donors updated about her progress by posting her grades online.

She said a movie producer, who is interested in buying her story, has contacted her. Hawkins warns those who are thinking about establishing their own cyber begging site that it takes a lot of work to design and update such a site. And, she said the money could be slow to come in.