Be on guard against fundraising fraud

You get a heart-rending message requesting support for a family you know that’s been struck by a house fire or a life-threatening medical condition with a link to a crowdfunding site.

There’s been a natural disaster in a community you used to live in. You see posts on local-area Facebook or Reddit groups asking for a donation to support displaced residents.

The misfortune may well be real, but are you sure your contribution is going to the victims, survivors or relief agencies? Cyber criminals are becoming more and more adept at exploiting genuine tragedy to separate you from your money, using what they can find out about you to instantaneously conjure convincing pleas.

“One thing these scams all have in common is they’re preying on the humanity of the victim, the desire to help,” says Julie Kuzmic, head of consumer advocacy and compliance for consumer credit agency Equifax Canada. “The scammer is taking advantage of two vulnerabilities: one is an affinity for the person in their network whom they recognize; the other is the desire of the target to support a cause.”

Warning signs to watch for

You feel for the victims and want to help. But when you receive a request for support, stay alert to any signs that something may not be quite right. Here are some indicators that a fundraising appeal could be fraudulent:

The details don’t fully match what you know. The information may not quite square with what you know about the person, family or community affected. The challenge is that scammers (and their AI tools) are getting better at making messages and websites sound factual and persuasive.

The charity name is slightly different. It may closely resemble the name of a legitimate charity connected to the victims or the deceased. The colour scheme and logos on the website you’re directed to may also look nearly identical.

Extra add-on donations appear. For example, you may be asked to pay to “light a candle” in someone’s memory for a month—or, at a higher cost, for a year.

There’s a sense of urgency. The sender may claim that funds must be raised by an imminent deadline—sometimes as soon as tomorrow. “Like with all scams, there’s often a sense of urgency,” Kuzmic says. The goal is to stop you from reconsidering your actions or giving law enforcement time to intervene.

They request unusual payment methods. The fundraiser may suggest options like sending bitcoin or having “a person in the neighbourhood” collect a cash donation. “No legitimate charity is going to ask you to donate in bitcoin or in gold bars,” Kuzmic notes.

Even if you’re pretty sure a fundraising pitch is legitimate, it’s worth taking a minute to Google the name of the charity or funeral home being represented and search their site for the campaign in question. If the links you were guided to are different or have no connection to the organization’s main site, that’s a big red flag.

What to do if you discover a charity fraud

Fraudsters gain credibility by using above-board crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe. These sites may have a process to verify the legitimacy of the fundraisers, but the sheer number of campaigns makes it challenging for them to police every one—and criminals may make off with their gains long before the system gets alerted.

That’s why it’s incumbent upon would-be donors to beware of all online requests for money. The Canadian Anti-Scam Coalition, of which Equifax is a member, uses the watchwords “Stop. Check. Talk.” That is, stop to consider before donating to a cause in haste. Check and try to verify the charity’s pitch independently. And, if you find the pitch may be illegitimate, talk about it and share your suspicions with other members of the relevant social circle and law enforcement.

“Even when people recognize that this is a scam they might just ignore it or block the sender,” Kuzmic says. “Often that’s the end of the road for that person, but it’s not the end of the road for the next victim. They move on.”

People who have been taken advantage of may keep quiet out of shame, Kuzmic adds. But helping prevent fraud requires reporting the scam to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and local police, along with spreading the word among others who could be targeted. 

Keep a step ahead of the scam artists

For an extra layer of protection against fundraising scams and other forms of fraud, consider Equifax CompleteTM Protection. The device protection feature offered with this multi-faceted digital subscription service, is able to flag false and fraudulent sites you might visit. Starting at $34.95 per month, the service also provides other digital security features, including:

Password manager

Social media monitoring

VPN

Credit monitoring

Parental controls

Identity restoration in case of identity theft

Read more about fraud and scams:

About Michael McCullough

Michael is a financial writer and editor in Duncan, B.C. He’s a former managing editor of Canadian Business and editorial director of Canada Wide Media. He also writes for The Globe and Mail and BCBusiness.