You might have given money to a donation scam without knowing it

High-profile disasters create a wave of criminals taking advantage of people who want to help victims. Charity scams proliferate on social media and crowdfunding sites, and fraudsters use emails, calls, or home visits to get what they want. After the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, social media removed hundreds of charities that were created days after the beginning of the conflict and took donations in cryptocurrencies and NFTs.

Right now, Facebook is filled with new pages that ask for donations for victims of the Israel/HAMAS conflict. They have three followers and provide links for direct donations to shady websites. I just saw this post on LinkedIn about new suspicious domains registered to help victims of the war.

Fake charities made the news last year when the New York Times uncovered that the IRS approved 76 fake charities that shared the same address and were responsible for $152,000 in victims’ losses.

How to Spot a Fake Charity

• The social media page, profile, or website is new, empty, doesn’t look professional, doesn’t have enough followers, or possibly impersonates a more famous and reputable organization.

• There is no contact information, no address or website, or links are broken and the address is not real.

• The campaign encourages to donate immediately or someone might die or get hurt, and they use a lot of emotions in their pleas for help.

• The requested donation is in cryptocurrency, gift cards, cash, or wires.

• Google search doesn’t bring enough information about the charity, or celebrities, whose images were used, and never endorsed the cause.

• A reverse image search on photos provided in campaigns shows that they were used somewhere else.

• There is no information about how the money will be used or an explanation of why.

• Not tax-deductible donations to charities might be a red flag in some situations.

• People promised gifts, giveaway winnings, or something else in return for the donations.

• The campaign promises that 100% of donations will go to the victims, which is not how legitimate charities work.

Report fake charities

• Federal Trade Commission

• Federal Bureau of Investigations

• Internet Crime Complaint Center

• National Center for Disaster Fraud  

Check if a charity is real

• Better Business Bureau

• IRS Website

• Charity Navigator

• Charity Watch

Interesting Reads This Week:

• Ghost in the Machine: How Fake Parts Infiltrated Airline Fleets

• Online daters warned of fraudsters posting fake celebrity profiles

• 43 freed from phone scam syndicate in Peru were young people who arrived week earlier