| Cyberbegging - New Wave 2003 | | | | payment service which makes it easy to collect |
| ============================ | | | | money on the Internet. |
| NEW YORK(Reuters) -- Need to pay down credit | | | | "I get a lot of e-mail from people who really have |
| card debt? Desperate for money for music | | | | hardships and are asking for advice. If they think |
| lessons? Simply tired of working and too | | | | they are going to get rich doing it, they aren't," |
| embarrassed to stand on the corner with a tin | | | | Schmidt said. "My goal was to be a guest on the |
| cup? Try "cyberbegging." | | | | David Letterman show, having gotten hundreds of |
| For some, the clicks in their cyberpails are starting | | | | thousands of dollars. Who knows? I may still get |
| to add up. Karyn Bosnak, for example, paid off | | | | there." |
| $20,000 in credit card debt -- accumulated from | | | | Pay for van with banners |
| her life in New York -- last month, after Web | | | | ======================== |
| strangers contributed more than $13,000 to her | | | | In the short-term, though, Schmidt said he is |
| cause, according to her Web site ( | | | | going to start selling banner ads on his site to help |
| Now that she has paid off her debt, Bosnak is | | | | finance a new mini-van for his family. |
| passing the buck, and directing Web surfers to | | | | Other Web sites in the category include the |
| other cyberbeggars such as an aspiring opera | | | | Internet Squeegee Guy ( who "will wash the inside |
| singer trying to pay for voice lessons and college | | | | of your monitor screen for spare change." |
| loans ( Along the way, Bosnak has parlayed her | | | | Penny Hawkins hopes to get enough money to |
| new-found fame into talk show appearances and | | | | finish nursing school so she can divorce her |
| a reported book deal. | | | | husband, she says. So far, she has received more |
| Hunt for cash grows | | | | than $1,500 through her Web site, |
| =================== | | | | Along with e-mailed donations, she said she got a |
| Yahoo started a "begging" category with four | | | | healthy dose of feedback. |
| sites in 1996. But the recent spike in activity and | | | | "As far as the crazier responses, I would have to |
| diversity of sites, last month led Yahoo to | | | | say that they are usually dedicated to the religious |
| rename the category e-panhandling, said Michelle | | | | fanatics that want to save me and/or my |
| Heimburger, senior lead surfer for Yahoo. | | | | marriage," Hawkins said. |
| There are now 51 sites in the category, ranging | | | | Seeking emotional support too |
| from some shamelessly looking for cash to | | | | ============================= |
| others seeking financial assistance for loans or | | | | A compelling site ( wasstarted by a young Seattle |
| medical treatments, Heimburger said. | | | | couple seeking emotional and financial support as |
| Rich Schmidt, a freelance music marketer, who | | | | they tried to start a family and pay off an in-vitro |
| was one of the first cyberbeggars, wants little | | | | fertilization bill of more than $12,000. |
| more than an appearance on the "Late Show with | | | | But Princess Natalie of Westwood, Ohio, may not |
| David Letterman" ... and, of course, cash. | | | | elicit much compassion. |
| "To me, the Internet is creative anarchy. I just | | | | On her Web site ( she says people should donate |
| wanted to make my mark. I thought, what if 1 | | | | money because imagining a world where |
| percent of the Web surfers out there sent me a | | | | "someone as talented as me was forced to |
| dollar," Schmidt said. "That was the impetus for | | | | work" would be a scary thought and "it could ruin |
| the idea." | | | | her manicure." |
| Internet Squeegee Guy "will wash the inside of | | | | Still, according to the site, she has collected |
| your monitor screen for spare change." | | | | $1,473, atoe ring, a phone card, books, and some |
| Send a dollar | | | | death threats. |
| ============= | | | | Ed from Dallas is looking to buy a Hummer with |
| His site ( has raised more than $4,800 since it | | | | Web donations ( |
| was set up about three years ago. Schmidt | | | | Why donate? |
| reviews other cyberbeggars on his site and allows | | | | =========== |
| people to post a short message or ad for a | | | | So, why exactly would anyone want to donate |
| donation. | | | | their own hard-earned money to a cyberbeggar? |
| When Schmidt first started, he asked Web | | | | "I think when people come to the site they think, |
| surfers to send him a dollar in the mail, but he | | | | 'I wish I'd thought of it' and, in the spirit of that, |
| soon switched over to PayPal, an electronic | | | | people give a dollar," Schmidt said. |